The Arrangement
by yuugiri
Summary: "We're already getting along bad enough. Why don't we just get married?" GaaIno.
1. Chapter 1

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter One**

* * *

When Uzumaki Naruto became Hokage at the age of twenty-five, the alliance between the Sand and the Leaf strengthened tenfold, and the citizens of both Hidden Villages couldn't be any happier. It boosted the economy, what with open trade between Konoha and Suna. But what really served as the strongest bond between the two villages were the Kazekage and the Hokage themselves.

That friendship was what led Yamanaka Ino to the predicament sitting in front of her right now.

Gaara blinked at her from across the table before averting his gaze from her face. He started examining something at the far wall behind Ino's right shoulder.

Sitting on one of the low wooden chairs arranged around the table of the meeting room of the Kazekage tower, Ino fingered the blank mission description files she had brought along with her, wanting nothing more than to have the floor open up and swallow her whole. Yes, she will kill Naruto after this. The Leaf will have to deal without a Hokage until they found a new one. The idiot Uzumaki, as much as Ino respected him, had sent her to Suna on a mission. Or rather, on a "personal favor", as Naruto had lovingly labelled it.

Oh, and hadn't that conversation gone pleasantly well ?

"_A personal favor?" Ino said sceptically, raising an eyebrow at Naruto who was conveniently trying to act busy by flipping through the papers piled on his desk that had obviously accumulated because he had been slacking off. _

"_Yes, Ino. A personal favor. It's Gaara," Naruto said as he dug into the stack of folders to his left while grumbling something to himself. When it looked like he couldn't find what he was looking for, he took a deep breath and looked over to where Ino was standing impatiently before him. "He wanted a refined female representative who would be available for a month or so."_

"Refined female representative?"_ If Naruto was thinking he could flatter her into submission, he had another thing coming. _

_Naruto, as usual being quite surprisingly sensitive to the feelings of the people around him, gestured at Ino. "I'm not kidding. That's what he requested."_

_Ino was not moved. "Send Hinata."_

_Naruto looked uneasy._

_Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't want her to go. You're letting your feelings – "_

"_She doesn't handle solo missions well. You know her as well as I do."_

"_Oh, that's such a convenient excuse not to send your girlfriend on a mission for ten days."_

_Naruto threw his hands up in the air. "That's not true! I just don't want to send anyone _less_. This is Suna. You've been there many times with Shikamaru. You're perfect for the job!"_

_Ino looked back at Naruto, warding away the migraine threatening to take over. After a few seconds, she decided that she might as well hear him out. "Fine. What's the job?"_

_Naruto's face lit up happily. "So you'll go?"_

"_I don't know. That depends. Is this a D-rank mission? Because I don't want to go on a C-rank or higher if you're sending me off alone for a month."_

"_Why's that?"_

"_Because C-rank missions and higher lasting over a week or more are really A-rank or S-rank missions in disguise. I've learned from experience." She sniffed in annoyance and glared at Naruto accusingly._

"_I already apologized for that seven times, and your fingernails grew back eventually. Right?"_

_Ino's cheek muscles twitched. _

_Naruto swallowed. "I did! I even sent you flowers when you were in the hospital for two weeks!" When he saw she was not the least bit amused by his words, he sighed and gestured at her pleadingly. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you honestly, I couldn't rank the mission."_

_All the more suspicious. "And why _ever_ can't you?" Ino hissed._

_Naruto ducked his head pathetically. "Because Gaara didn't explain to me why he needed a refined female representative."_

_Ino turned on her heel and headed for the door. "Good bye."_

"_Wait!" Naruto screamed, and he was already out of his seat and blocking the door with his body desperately. "You can't walk away from me when we're in the middle of a mission briefing!"_

_Ino took a deep breath, an attempt to keep her temper at bay. She waited ten seconds before saying, "It isn't necessary to _brief_ me on this mission because you don't even _know_ what the mission _is_. I don't _care_. I'm not _going_. Now _get out of my way_."_

"_Look, he's willing to pay twice as much as we earn for one S. It means he's desperate. You can't turn your back on a desperate man, can you?"_

_Ino pursed her lips. It wasn't as if she was picky when it came to missions assigned to her, but she – as well as the rest of their batch – had been caught up in so many predicaments because Naruto always thought that they were like him, who was practically a human chakra generator with legs. Honestly, the man had a bad habit of underestimating missions and overestimating his subordinates. Because of this, their batch had, at each, an average of three and a half times nearly getting killed and barely escaping with their lives in the span of four years of Naruto's reign. Of course, everyone knew that Naruto was just too nice to say no to anyone who asked for their services. And Ino just couldn't put her foot down firmly when Naruto had dangled in front of her nose a week's worth paid leave if she said yes._

Ino snapped back into reality when she found Gaara yawning at her.

Ino blinked, deciding that she would have to ignore the fact that the Kazekage did not look the _least_ bit desperate as Naruto had said he was.

Gaara yawned again, his dark-rimmed eyes closing slightly before he absentmindedly rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand. Finally, his eyes met hers.

Ino sat up straighter on her seat, then waited a few minutes, expecting for him to say something. His eyes always made her uncomfortable. For the past years, since Shikamaru had started taking quite an interest on the Kazekage's older sister, he had dragged her along many times to Suna. Gaara had ever since been a man of very little words. This did not mean, however, that he was rude to her. In fact, she had spent one time with him when he had asked her advice about the possibility of raising medical herbs in the desert. He had seldom talked, and when he did, it was only to ask a question. He had taken notes diligently, and although he did not contribute much on the conversation, Ino doubted he wasn't listening. There was always the interest in those green eyes of his, though Ino thought them to always be lacking of sleep.

When Ino had asked Naruto about Gaara's health, the Hokage had joked about his friend's sleeping habit.

"_He seldom sleeps. A habit hard to break, even without the tailed beast. Bags. Under his eyes. Terrible."_

Gaara lost interest in looking at Ino at some point and he started examining his fingernails. Ino took this opportunity to examine him more. Gaara had grown taller over the years, probably just as tall as Naruto, and that was saying a lot; Naruto had _grown._ The blood-red hair on top of his head was still the same disheveled mop with bits and pieces sticking up in many different directions. It was as if he had been pulling on it before he came to see her. She had feared this person a decade or so ago. He was just so… uncontrollable.

_Unreadable_.

Ino frowned. It was her clan's _kekkei genkai_ to read deep into the human subconscious. Many times she had found herself not needing to use her skill to see through a person, and from experience she could tell them who they were with just a glance. Gaara, however, was a blank sheet of paper. Those green, glassy eyes were flat, absolutely no depth. Even his body language was unreadable. All she could tell was that he was stiff and uncomfortable.

And _tired_. He looked very tired.

Ino swallowed loudly. Thinking that the Kazekage had had a long night, she thought that perhaps it would be better if she left for a while and let him compose himself. She opened her mouth to speak, but immediately closed it when she heard the door to the meeting room open noisily. Temari, looking immaculately hassled, staggered inside the room with a bundle of… many purple clothes in her arms. Ino couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight of a familiar face.

Temari closed the door with her knee and turned to the two of them, looking flustered. "Ah, sorry for taking so long." She hurried over to the table and deposited everything she had in her arms onto the table between Ino and Gaara. "So I got everything you might need for the next month." When Temari saw the puzzled look on Ino's face, she added, "There's more outside."

Ino stared at Temari questioningly. "Excuse me?"

Temari laughed and she tried very hard to tuck loose strands of her blond hair into one of the four ponytails she had. "Don't worry. I heard from Shikamaru that you like purple so I personally made sure you get what you'd want. Of course I had to throw in a few black, lacy lingerie here and there – "

"_What?"_ Ino snapped, absolutely unsure if Temari was high on something or is simply just kidding her.

"Lingerie," Temari said matter-of-factually, eyes unblinking as she returned Ino's shocked stare.

Ino did not even realize she had stood up from her chair. "I don't think I'm getting the flow of this conversation. Why on _earth_ would you get me black underwear?" She had brought her own change of clothes enough for a few days … And none of them had black underwear in them… Naruto did not say anything about freaking lacy black underwear!

Temari looked at Ino before turning to Gaara. "You didn't tell her," she said in disbelief. "Gaara, I thought we already talked about this, that you would be the one to tell her about – "

"I know," Gaara suddenly spoke, and Ino was instantly taken aback. She had heard him address his village many times in the past, but why was it that it sounded so different when there were only three of them inside a deserted meeting room? His voice was deep, like thunder from a distance. It was very intimidating, really. Especially when he spoke while standing up. He was tall, about two heads taller than she was. He was missing the gourd he always had strapped to his back, and Ino didn't know if she was grateful for it or not.

Temari, who was obviously used to her brother, rolled her eyes and said, "Well? You have to remember that this was your idea to begin with."

Gaara's jaw tightened even more, a small vertical line forming between the place above his eyes where his eyebrows were supposed to be, and Ino watched him touch the side of his forehead where his red tattoo was. "I was supposed to tell her… before you walked in."

Ino kept a snort in. That was obviously a lie. Gaara did not even come close to saying _'boo'_ to her earlier. The way Temari rolled her eyes again said that she thought so, too.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm sorry I got in your way." Temari crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell her, then. Go on."

Gaara looked torn between attacking Temari and running away. Ino was surprised he managed to look like a brick wall while doing so. He shot a tiny glance at Ino from under those dark, hooded eyes of his, and at that one moment Ino thought she saw something sparkle in them.

Ino squared her shoulders, thinking that perhaps it would speed things up if she, too, started initiating the conversation. "I'm listening, Kazekage-sama. Whatever it may be, these are my orders from the Hokage, and I'll do everything in my power to help." Besides, they were paying an incredible amount of money for her to do this, whatever it was.

Gaara, for a split-second, looked like he had relaxed a bit. The tension around his eyes and the slight raise of his shoulders disappeared, and he was now looking back at her straight in the eye. He opened his mouth –

And the door opened with it. Kankurou stepped in unceremoniously, three boxes, one on top of the other, in his arms completely obscuring his face. "Gaara and Ino are living together for a mere freaking month. Why do we need all this stuff? It's not like they're moving in together _forever_, right?" He turned the boxes to the side to see where he was going, then realized then and there that there were three sets of eyes trained on him. He smiled uncertainly. "Oh, crap."

Ino blinked at Kankurou, then at Temari, then finally at Gaara. "Err… _what?"_

Kankurou dropped the boxes on the floor then sighed, crouching on the ground and running a hand through his messy black hair. "So I'd guess you still haven't…?"

"You said something very, very disturbing just now," Ino said to the puppet master.

Temari shook her head in resignation. "Well, someone had to say it sooner than later."

Ino bared her teeth at her, feeling terribly betrayed. "What is this about me and Gaara living together?" she demanded.

Gaara cleared his throat loudly.

Ino whirled towards him, the indignation suddenly replaced by consciousness that Gaara had approached her, and was now towering over her as he looked down at her with, once again, a blank stare. From her vantage point she could make out the strong contour of his jaw, the tall nose, the prominent forehead marked with that tattoo. She backed away from him out of instinct, like a kicked puppy, but she did not turn her gaze away from him. "What is going on here, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara did not move… or blink… as he examined her intently. Again it frightened Ino that she could not tell what he was thinking. He was just… _there_. Eying her. Looking so very tired.

Ino swallowed hard before willing herself to face him properly. "Did you call me here to live with you, Kazekage-sama? Is this a part of the mission?"

Gaara nodded silently. He did not even hesitate, which unnerved Ino even more, though she appreciated his blunt honesty. But here came the real question.

"_Why?"_

Temari sighed in relief. "Now that we have _that _out of the way… Will you do it?" she asked Ino.

"Why?" Ino asked again.

Kankurou looked pretty relieved himself. "Well, I guess that's all there is to it. No need to get too excited about this. Let's have tea."

"Won't you tell me why I have to do this?" Ino demanded when she noticed the sand siblings were ignoring her. It was enough that Naruto had sent her here knowing _zero_, but now her clients were keeping a secret from her as well. "It's not like I'm going to say no if you let me in on this. You _are _paying us, after all. But wouldn't you think it would be more efficient for me to actually know the _reason_ behind this?"

Temari and Kankurou were both looking at her, then at Gaara. They seem to be thinking it between themselves if it would be better to trust Gaara to tell her about the truth behind the mission.

"Later," Gaara said. "I'll tell you later."

_His actual first coherent sentence, finally._ Ino bit the insides of her cheeks and could not do anything else but nod. "All right. I guess." She swiped her bangs away from her face and patted her cheeks with her palms; she didn't even know she had started sweating, and when. "Uh… so… Should I go get my things?" she asked uncertainly, her eyes darting to the rucksack she had brought from Konoha, containing her clothes and other feminine goods. No black, lacy underwear in there. No. None of those.

Gaara nodded stiffly and he moved to leave the meeting room.

Ino's mouth dropped open, flabbergasted. "W-w-wait! Are we going? _Now?"_

Gaara looked over his shoulder. Ino could only see half of his face. "Come home with me tonight," he said.

That invitation sounded so wrong in so many different levels. Ino sighed. "All right. Let me get my things." She busied herself with her rucksack.

"So, I'll just have these boxes hauled to your place later, Gaara," Kankurou said.

Ino was on him in a second. "That won't be necessary."

"Are you sure? Because these panties are – "

"No, thank you," Ino said between gritted teeth before slinging her rucksack over her shoulder and scuttling over to the waiting Gaara.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds too long before Gaara finally turned away and went through the door.

Ino faced Temari questioningly. The older woman shrugged her shoulders as if saying, _"Don't ask me, ask him."_

"Are you coming?" came Gaara's monotonous voice from outside the meeting room.

"Ah…" Ino hesitated and Temari jerked her head towards the direction Gaara had left. "Yes, I'm coming." She went after Gaara in a hurry.

* * *

To be honest, it didn't even cross Ino's mind that Gaara had a house. She had always been led to think that he was living inside the Kazekage tower. _Forever_. Now that she thought about it, it would only be normal for him to have a house of his own. The fact also brought a sense of relief; at least the mission Naruto had sent her didn't have anything to do with dangerous stuff, like, say, national security. Or terrorists. Or invasions. Or any other… dangerous stuff…

Ino looked around her as Gaara led the way through the twisting and turning halls of the Kazekage tower. Every time she came with Shikamaru to visit the Sand, their route was always confined to several places – namely anywhere Temari might be. The inside of the tower, however, was unknown to her, and she knew that if Gaara had not been with her then, she would have gotten lost in the labyrinth of halls for days.

She let out a gasp when she felt someone gently tug at her rucksack. She looked up and was surprised to see Gaara had fallen into step with her and was now pulling at her belongings.

"I had it checked before I entered the village, Kazekage-sama," Ino said somehow getting a bit defensive. He can't possibly be suggesting that she had smuggled something dangerous to the Sand?

Gaara shook his head. "I'll carry this."

Ino's jaw nearly dropped in disbelief. She snatched her rucksack from his grasp. "It's all right. It's not that heavy, Kazekage-sama."

The man peered down at her. "Gaara."

"Sorry?"

"Call me Gaara."

Ino blurted out the first thing that came into mind. "Why?"

"It's my name."

"Of course it is," Ino muttered, a bit uneasy herself.

"It really is," Gaara said reproachfully.

Ino blinked. "I know, sir. I believed you when you said it. But I couldn't possibly. That would be rude."

"Call me Gaara," he insisted, and with the strength Ino forgot he had, yanked her rucksack from her and swung it over his own shoulders. He resumed walking without another pause.

Ino gaped at his back incredulously. "Wait up!" She dashed after him, his long legs were surprisingly very fast. Ino had always imagined him on a cloud of sand, floating his way here and there wherever he pleased, and so seeing him walking on his own was alarming. Although, it was hard to deny that Gaara in motion was quite a sight to behold. He was lithe for his height, and although he looked well coordinated despite the long limbs, he had a certain… swagger… to his walk, like swaying to a certain music only he could hear. He would nod at anyone he passed by in the hallway, politely saying a greeting and once in a while stopping to exchange carefully selected words to what appeared to be carefully selected people. Ino trailed silently behind him, bowing her head to those people as they went on their way. They looked back at her with either pure interest, or rude curiosity. Some would smile. Some would go so far as shake her hand. She didn't understand any of it.

Ino didn't notice Gaara stopping in his tracks and she suddenly bumped her nose into his shoulder. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her nose tenderly. She looked up to see they were standing a few feet from a wide open door leading out into a broad clearing. There was not a speck of sand in sight. The brick-layered clearing looked like it was made for public use, like festivals.

Ino guessed this was the heart of the village proper, situated right behind the Kazekage tower. She could make out the alleys formed by the neatly lined clay houses, all dome-shaped and looking like tiny ant hills arranged around the clearing.

"It's not far from here," Gaara informed her as he looked out of the exit.

Ino could sense he was hesitating. "Is something wrong?"

Gaara looked down at her, and his eyes darted from her face to her bare shoulders. Ino self-consciously raised her hands to rub them. Perhaps she should have worn a different attire? Since Naruto had not specifically told her what she was supposed to be in this mission, she had opted to wear her usual purple tank top and skirt. Did Gaara think she was dressed inappropriately? Well, that was most certainly not her fault! If they had told her in the first place, then –

Her train of thought was interrupted when Gaara set her rucksack by his feet, removed the robe draped around his shoulders and gently wrapped it around her. The material was light and airy, and for some reason it smelled like what came close to cinnamon mixed with an unknown odor Ino could only guess to be Gaara's natural scent.

"Noon-day sun can burn your skin," he explained suddenly as he picked up the rucksack and let it dangle at his side.

Ino looked down at herself. The robe was too big, and she hitched it higher over her ankles. Did Gaara forget that she had to travel through the desert to get here? She had her own robes buried in her rucksack, but to avoid any longer conversations that she knew Gaara would not be willing to entertain, she settled with saying a feeble "thank you," instead.

She followed Gaara through the deserted clearing, making sure she caught up with his long strides. "It's kind of lonely here. I thought that this was some sort of gathering place."

"It is," Gaara said shortly. He did not elaborate more, and Ino bit her lip in frustration. She had come here under the Hokage's orders, and she knew her place when it came to this person, but was a conversation too much to ask? Honestly, here he was, leading her back to his house, and he wouldn't even say a word unless she asked him.

Ino squared her shoulders and willed herself to be a bit more patient and try a different approach. Falling in step with the man, she said, "Naruto says hello, by the way. He wants me to hand a scroll to you. It's in my rucksack."

Gaara nodded. "Thank you. I'll read it later."

"And Lee says he looks forward to your sparring session next month. He's away on a mission right now. He left a day before I did and he wanted me to pass the message to you."

Gaara paused, then looked down at Ino. "You speak with Rock Lee?"

Ino nodded. "Yes. Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Gaara said, and he returned his eyes in front of him. "We're here."

Ino stopped walking when Gaara paused right in front of a small bungalow house made of rock and clay. Just like the rest of the houses in the Sand, it had a round, dome-shaped roof. The wide garden windows at the front were clean and bare, as well as the front yard, which had but a few weeds popping out here and there from under rocks and a few small boulders. For someone who had been surrounded by flowers all her life, the sight made Ino's heart hurt. It was a shame to have such a lovely little house capable of bearing more than just rocks and weeds being neglected like this.

"Are you coming?" came Gaara's voice.

Ino jumped. She had been so intent on the fairly wide garden in the front that she hadn't noticed Gaara had walked up at the house and was now holding the door open for her. She raised her robes over her knees and hurried over to where he was waiting. She stepped out of the sun.

And into one of the barest houses she had ever been in all her life.

The place was spacious, with dark-cream-colored walls. The garden windows she saw from the outside were situated at the eastern wall. The space near that wall was what Ino could have called a living room, where there was an ugly brown floor mat on the floor and on top of it was a huge wooden center table Ino would have guessed to be made of yew. And against the bare northern wall was an equally ugly sofa. The kitchen was peeking behind the door next to it, and there was another door that was left closed on the western side of the room.

And that was practically it.

"Kaze – uhm… Gaara?" she asked.

Gaara was now depositing her rucksack on the sofa. He turned to her. "Hn?"

"You haven't been living here long, have you?"

"Ten years, I think."

Ino's eyes widened involuntarily and she tried to look for signs of those ten years he was talking about. There were no picture frames or anything of the like hanging on those walls. There were no books or scrolls in the built-in shelves near the windows. The only thing that came close to Gaara's personal belongings was a single withered potted plant hiding at the small space between the wall and the sofa.

Ino gestured at the place, genuinely at a loss for words. "Wow… well… " She nodded weakly at the man who was watching her as she surveyed the house. "At least it's easy to clean. No furniture to sweep under or around… " That was the only positive thing she could offer.

Gaara didn't seem to mind. "Use anything as you like." He pointed vaguely somewhere to his right. "The bathroom is over there. The kitchen is over there."

"Of course. Thank you." She stood in place, rocking on the balls of her feet. Then what? She looked over to the direction of the kitchen. "Uhm, should we have some tea?"

Gaara nodded immediately. "Yes, thank you."

Ino nearly blanched at him. Was she missing something here? This was Gaara's house, and she was the guest, was she not? And here the man seemed to have implied that _she_ had to get the tea ready. Dragging in a long, steady breath before releasing it slowly, she took off Gaara's coat and draped it over the sofa on the way to the kitchen. If it came down to this, then she might as well. "Okay then. You must have had a tiring day. I'll get the tea and prepare our lunch while I'm at it."

The kitchen was a lot more spacious than the living room. A suspiciously large refrigerator was wedged in the corner. Ino was surprised to find out Gaara had one, given he was living alone and didn't even have a television in his common room. Aside from the lovely wooden dining table in the center of the room, the other thing that caught Ino's attention was the quaint little sink with white marble tiles and built-in cabinets overhead, the window near it overlooking the back yard, which was as bare as the front. She could see the lawn of the nearest neighbor with lush desert ferns and wolf berry plants and aloe Vera. Oh well. There was no point in complaining. Just because she liked flowers and greens did not mean everyone had to. She set herself to making a meal instead.

Of course, there was this very, _very_ tiny problem. Ino realized this the moment she opened the cupboard overhead.

"Gaara?"

"Yes?" Gaara asked as he stepped into the kitchen and started looking around curiously. It was as if it was his first time to step into this part of his residence. He looked so out of place in the whiteness of the beautifully tiled floor, with his head of dark red hair barely brushing the door frame.

"You don't have anything in your cupboard," she pointed our flatly, reaching further into the cabinet just to make sure. "Where are your tea leaves?"

Gaara stared at her owlishly. "I haven't bought any."

Ino withdrew her hand from the cabinet weakly. "You mean you ran out of stock?"

"No. I haven't bought tea. Ever."

"Never?"

"Never ever."

Ino rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. Well, that settled it in a nutshell. "Okay then, why don't we just skip the tea, and make some lunch?" She headed for the huge refrigerator at the other side of the room and warily opened the door. A gust of frozen air wafted out, and when Ino looked in, there was nothing in there but a few wet towels on a plate.

"There's nothing in here, either," Ino said, disappointed.

Gaara shifted in his weight from one foot to the other. He looked really uneasy. "Close the door. Save electricity."

Ino did as she was told. "It would save more electricity if we just unplugged it, since there's nothing in it to begin with."

Gaara did not look too happy with her remark, but he did not say anything.

"How do you eat?" Ino asked him, honestly wanting to know the answer. Gaara had claimed that he'd been living in this house for over ten years, yet there were no furniture and no food.

"Temari," Gaara said simply.

"But there are times when Temari's out on ambassador duty in Konoha. What do you do then?"

Gaara silently pointed at the far side of the kitchen where Ino caught sight of a slightly large cardboard box. She knew what they were without even having to look up close. "Supplements?"

"Food supplements," Gaara corrected.

Ino was horrified. "Gaara, if you don't eat right, one of these days you'll die of hunger."

Gaara was alarmed. "When?" he asked.

Not quite the reaction Ino was looking for, but close enough. "When? Well... Someday. If you don't eat properly." Ino clapped her hands together. "Let's go grocery shopping then."

This time, Gaara evidently took step away from her. "Do I have to go?"

"Yes, you have to come with me. I don't know where anything is, and I don't want to get lost." Looks like things are not going to be as easy as she thought. Perhaps a terrorist attack would have been a better mission for her. "It won't take long, and you can tell me what you want to eat while we're at it. All right?"

It took several minutes before Gaara came to a decision, and the two of them agreed to go run to the market place and stock up on food.

It was amazing how Gaara could look out of place anywhere he went that was not the Kazekage tower. The people in the market looked just as uneasy to see him as much as he was to be there in their presence.

"You haven't been here before, have you?" Ino asked as she picked out a sturdy-looking basket from one of the stalls and paid for it. "The civilians all look like they've seen a ghost."

Gaara looked left, then right at the crowd that split into two when they started walking. "They're looking at me," he said.

"Yes, they are. But then can you blame them? You've hardly stepped out of your tower, let alone the city proper. Don't worry about it. Oh, look. They have tomatoes." She stopped in front of a stall and plucked a tomato with her free hand. She turned just in time to see Gaara scowl down at the thing as she dropped a couple of them into her basket.

_Does he hate tomatoes? _Ino wondered. He didn't voice out his opinion, so just in case, Ino started to randomly pick up a certain fruit or vegetable and got a variety of reactions from the man.

Onions, a shrug. Potatoes, a nod. Carrots, a small smile. Eggplants, a frown.

It was interesting to see such colorful expressions on his usually stoic, serious and tired face, especially when she had taken him to a stall of fresh herbs for cooking.

"Look at these," Ino started as she picked up a small bundle of fresh Dill. "We could buy them today and we could pickle some vegetables with them tonight."

Gaara peered down at the plant. "What is it?"

"It's Dill. Haven't you seen anyone use these before?"

He shook his head. "They're fresh… We don't use fresh herbs much."

Ino nodded in understanding as she broke off a stem of the herb and held it up under Gaara's nose. "Dill loses its flavor fast when dried. They're commonly used for soups and pickles, you know. For aroma. Try to get a sniff of it."

Gaara tentatively lowered his chin and sniffed the stem quickly. He seemed to like what he smelled, because he took it from her hand and continued to wave it under his nose like a child.

Ino took a jar each of dried rose hip and hibiscus. "You don't mind fruity tea, do you? I adore them."

Gaara abandoned the Dill stem into Ino's basket and gingerly took the hibiscus jar from her. "I don't mind." He opened the cap of the jar and sniffed at those, too. His tense shoulders relaxed a bit and he stuck his nose deeper into the jar.

"You like that scent," Ino mused as she took another jar of the favored herb and deposited them into her basket.

"They smell nice," he admitted as he screwed the cap back on and placed it inside Ino's basket. He then took the basket from her. "I'll carry it."

Ino rolled her eyes but did not bother to argue, because she knew that it would be futile. She let him look around the market place a bit, since he had started to ignore the eyes of the civilians ogling him. He looked like a very eager butterfly, fluttering from one stall to another, pointing at colorful fruits and looking over his shoulder at Ino, as if to ask, _"Do these taste good?"_

Patiently, Ino waited until he got his fill, and they set back to return to his little empty house. Shopping had been interesting enough, because Ino got to see the Gaara she had never seen before. Cooking had been another story altogether. She had asked Gaara to help her chop the vegetables, Gaara said another pleasant surprise.

"I haven't done that before," he said.

"Never?"

"Never ever."

Sheesh. The man was the youngest Kazekage ever in history. He could crush enemies without lifting a finger, and here he tells her he had never even once sliced a vegetable. Ino handed him the cabbage head. "Here. You don't need a knife for this. Just shred these then wash them, and put them into another bowl."

He followed obediently. Now making him chop the tomatoes had been harder.

"I'll chop the onions instead," he offered.

Ino bit her lip uncertainly. "Onions make your eyes water, though."

Gaara shrugged. "Better than tomatoes." And he started away with the onions, once in a while sniffing loudly and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He didn't complain even once.

Ino's eyes nearly popped out when she saw the evenly sliced onions Gaara had done. It was like he used a slicer. She patted him lightly on the shoulder. "You're a natural."

Gaara stared at the spot where Ino patted him, then said, "My eyes hurt."

"It's all right now, thank you. You can go rest in the living room and – " And what? Watch TV? "And rest," Ino finished lamely.

Gaara nodded and did as he was told. Ino stared at the door where he had disappeared into and let out a small whistle through her teeth. Who would have thought that the strongest shinobi in the Sand would be so awkward in his own home? Ino did not quite understand it, but somehow, she found that fact endearing. She rummaged under the sink and found a new set of – unused – pots and pans. In no time, she had the water boiling for the soup and another pot for boiling rice. Since the only thing available in the market were eggs and a bit of trout (maybe tomorrow, she will have to wake up early and go to the market in the morning to score some meat) she decided to just fry the fish and make some omelets.

She thought about Gaara and her mission while she worked, and although she had been trained to never question her authorities, her curiosity was nagging at her. Was there any specific reason why Gaara needed her here? Aside from, well, cook him food because he can't cook? She wished he had told her everything earlier, then she wouldn't have to worry about it.

After a few more minutes the spacious and hardly used kitchen was filled with the smells Ino was familiar with at her home back in Konoha. This must have wafted back into the living room, because Gaara came sneaking back into the kitchen as he sniffed the air around him.

"Something smells nice," he said as he positioned himself behind Ino, as if afraid to come any nearer and be in the way.

"It must be the onion soup. Remember the Dill we bought earlier? I put it in there. Want to taste?" Ino offered, and used her wooden spoon to scoop a bit of the soup. Jokingly, she turned to Gaara and said, "Say ahhh!"

She nearly stumbled backward to see Gaara actually open his mouth and lean forward expectantly. She had been kidding about feeding him. She had expected him to stare at the spoon suspiciously, because he had looked at any food presented in front of him that way. But here he was, waiting to be spoon-fed.

"Hurry up," Gaara muttered, and he opened his mouth again.

Ino jumped, spilled a bit of the soup on the floor, then nodded. "It's a bit hot so be careful." She brought the wooden spoon to his waiting mouth and Gaara took a tentative sip of the soup. "How do you like it?"

Gaara nodded. "Delicious."

"Really? You like it?"

Gaara gave her a small nod.

Ino felt her pride flare a bit. The Kazekage actually likes her cooking. Well, at least she wasn't going to have any problems for the month feeding him. As she transferred the rice, fish and the omelets on separate plates (Gaara had so many unused plates!), she arranged the table for two and they were seated in no time. Ino laid a generous serving of rice and a huge piece of omelet on his plate.

Gaara poked at the omelet with his chopsticks, then he grimaced. "There are tomatoes in there."

Ino lowered her own chopsticks and said, "They're good for you."

Gaara shook his head. "But they're tomatoes." As if that explained everything.

Ino pointed at his plate. "I worked really hard on that dish." she said gently. She was so used to the men in her life to wolf down whatever was laid before them that having to force Gaara to eat was a whole new different experience. "Please eat."

Looking very unhappy and forced into a corner, Gaara nodded. "Thank you for the food." And he started to dig in. Ino watched him as he ate. She smiled when he made sure to eat plenty of rice when he put a few tomatoes into his mouth. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself, but he ate every single food on his plate.

"See? It wasn't so bad," Ino told him as she poured him some tea and collected the empty plate from him.

"I held my breath," Gaara said sadly.

Ino laughed. "Was my cooking really that bad?" she asked jokingly.

Gaara fidgeted in his seat. "It was delicious."

Ino felt a bit accomplished. Gaara had eaten every single bite, even if it was obvious he didn't like tomatoes. "Thank you. You can just relax in the living room, and I'll wash up here."

Again, like a good boy, Gaara did as he was told. And again, Ino wondered how such a violent man many years back could be this docile. She supposed Naruto was the only one who could understand the man fully. Ino wished he would tell her the reason behind these arrangements so that she could get it all out of the way. She had that in her mind as she hummed to herself while doing the dishes. When everything was washed and left to dry in the rack, she wiped her hand on a towel hanging by the sink and made her way to the living room where Gaara would be.

She was surprised to see Temari and Kankurou standing in the living room. By the door were the boxes Kankurou had brought to the meeting room earlier. On top of those boxes were the purple clothes Temari had collected for her. She hoped to god they didn't bring any of that black underwear.

"You really took him grocery shopping?" Kankurou suddenly blurted out when he saw her come in.

Ino nodded. "There wasn't anything in the kitchen. I'm actually very surprised that Gaara's been living here for ten years. You can barely call it a home."

"I like it that way," Gaara said.

Temari gestured at her younger brother. "He spends more time in his office than at home. He sleeps on his documents."

"If he sleeps at all," Kankurou added.

Ino pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "The kitchen's well furnished, though. And the utensils are complete, if not brand new."

Temari groaned loudly. She turned to Gaara. "You haven't told her yet, have you."

Gaara lowered his chin to his chest and didn't say anything.

"She has to know, Gaara," Temari said, then turned to Ino. "Those things in the kitchen are actually gifts from the elders."

Ino tilted her head to the side. "Gifts for what?"

Temari harrumphed in frustration. "Gaara, if you don't want to tell her, we can do it for you. Now hand it over." The older girl held out her hand to her brother.

Gaara shook his head. "No. I'll do it." He stood up from the couch and went straight for Ino.

Ino stood straighter. Here it was! He was going to tell her what she had to do.

"Ino," Gaara started. It was probably the first time he had called her by name.

"Yes, Gaara?" Ino asked. She saw Temari and Kankurou look at each other, Kankurou mouthing silently, _"Did she just call him by name?"_

"_Shut up,"_ Temari mouthed back.

"Your left hand," Gaara said softly.

Ino looked down at her left hand questioningly. "This? What about it?" She gasped when Gaara suddenly took it into his own hand, dug into the pocket of his trousers and took out a very lovely ring with a blue diamond the size of a small peanut. That beautiful ring was slipped into her ring finger so fast she didn't even know how to react.

"Before you say anything, let me explain," Gaara said. Ino didn't have any qualms with that; she didn't know what to say to begin with. And he still wasn't letting go of her hand!

She nodded anyway.

Gaara took a deep breath, then said, "Tomorrow night, representatives from all over the Wind Country will arrive, and will be staying here for a month."

Ino nodded. That was easy enough to understand.

Gaara continued. "They will be bringing all their eligible daughters with them for me to choose a bride."

Ino nodded again. Well, Gaara was way past his marrying age. It seemed natural that he'd do so.

"The elders of the Sand want me to marry before the year ends. They've been very restless about it for the last several months. But I don't want to – ."

"You don't want to get married?" Ino asked flatly. She did not like where the conversation was going.

At her interruption, Gaara looked away. "I don't want a wife who I don't know."

"What? So you want _me _to play as your wife? I don't see if that would make a difference," Ino blurted out incredulously.

"I want you to pose as my fiancée. Just for a month. Until the representatives leave me alone," Gaara explained hastily.

Ino stared at him dubiously. "_Will_ they leave you alone? I mean, a fiancée popping out of the blue just when they're coming over to visit is too… obvious!"

Gaara was a bit taken aback, and as if the courage he had earned to speak was lost once again.

Temari spoke up in his behalf. "Actually, when the elders started suggesting he should be thinking of marriage, he… uhh… sort of already laid out that plan about being engaged to a Konoha kunoichi."

Ino felt the world start spinning around her. She turned to the older woman. _"You mean you told them that we were engaged without my consent?"_

"It didn't necessarily have to be you!" Temari said hurriedly. "It was just a lie to keep the elders from dragging Gaara off to an arrangement he didn't want to be in. It actually bought us a few months, but now they're getting really suspicious, and I don't blame them. They think that he's lying and they arranged to have different women from the Wind to come and present themselves to the Kazekage. In the end, we had to ask Naruto for help, and he was more than willing to send a kunoichi to aid us."

"And you're paying us twice as much for this?" Ino asked.

"From my own account, yes," Gaara mumbled incoherently. He was now busy looking down at Ino's hand which was still clamped in his.

Ino could still not believe it. The plan was too farfetched, if anything, too desperate. "Look, Gaara. I can pretend to be your fiancée for a month, because it's my job and I'm paid to do so, but after that one month, when all the representatives have gone home, then what? You'd be free from them while I'm here, but at the end of thirty days, you'd still be wifeless and the elders won't be happy. Why don't you just get married for real?"

Gaara stared at her. "To whom? You?"

Ino felt her face burst into flames. "Wha - ? Nu - ! _What? _No! No, not me! To one of them! Those women coming tomorrow! Arranged marriages aren't as bad as you think. Almost all prominent shinobi families are married that way, and many of them are successful."

Gaara looked down, this time he let go of her hand and let his arms dangle at his sides. "I don't want to."

Ino was at a loss for words. She knew that Gaara was hiding something from her; he had been hiding many things from her from the moment they met in the meeting room. And as she looked at him as he tried very hard to meet her eye, she could only sigh and say, "It's not like I have a choice. I'll do it, Gaara. But whatever happens after this month is over is all up to you. You understand that, right?"

He nodded weakly, and Ino could feel the tension leave his shoulders as he finally raised his face to meet hers. "Thank you."

That was the signal that everything was fine, and Temari and Kankurou let out deep, relieved breathes. Ino wondered if it was really that big a deal for them and Gaara that she had said yes.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Gaara said.

Ino looked over at him. "Yes?"

"The elders want to meet you today."

Ino blinked at him, then laughed. "Sorry. For a second there I thought you said the elders want to meet me today."

Gaara did not laugh one bit.

Ino felt sick.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, I had this idea in my head for a while now, and I just couldn't concentrate on my other fics because it keeps on popping in and out of my brain. I was actually hoping to make it a one-shot but for some reason, it just snowballed into a multi-chaptered fic. Probably eight to ten chapters long. I won't be updating this again until I get the next chapter of Protected up.**

**Anyway, tell me what you think and leave a review if you like!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Ino looked down at herself and fidgeted uncomfortably in front of the half-body mirror in the small room connecting to Gaara's unnaturally clean bathroom. If she was going to live here for a month, then she will have to ask Temari to provide a full length mirror and decent enough lighting. The small, naked yellow light bulb attached to the ceiling was making her skin look pasty and unappealing. How can Gaara expect to impress his elders with her when she can't even do her hair and make-up right?

A soft knock came from the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Ino said as she hastily gathered her hair into a low pony tail before rolling it into a disheveled bun at the nape of her neck. She gave herself a final once-over, and wondered why Gaara didn't want her to wear one of the formal clothes Temari had brought with her earlier and instead insisted she wear one of the simple dresses she had brought with her from Konoha. Since she didn't know what the occasion was, she didn't specifically pack an evening formal and shoes.

_Crap…_

Ino was not nervous when it came to talking with dignitaries. Because of her clan's distinct ability to 'read' a person by nature without even having to use their _kekkei genkai_, she had been sent to many formal gatherings and peace treaties before. Of course, because of Naruto's weird sense in mission ranking, some of those formal gatherings would end with someone getting kidnapped and it would be up to Ino to save them. Luckily, no one had been murdered in any of her peace treaty missions. Thank god.

Yeah, talking to dignitaries was something she was used to, but to be presented as the fiancé of the man she hardly knew…? Naruto was going to pay for this, big time.

She frowned at the memory of Naruto sitting behind his desk as she yanked the door open.

Gaara stepped back from the door immediately when she came out. "You're angry," he said.

Ino arranged her face immediately. "No. Sorry. I was thinking of something else." She looked Gaara up and down and nodded appreciatively. "You clean up good."

The Kazekage was wearing loose, dark trousers tucked under his shinobi sandals. He had abandoned the old dark-grey shirt he had on earlier and was now donned in an off-white coat that flared over his hips. The sashes people in the Wind country favored was absent from his shoulders, and it was the first time Ino had seen him this… _uncovered_. And Ino liked what she saw; after all, she knew how to appreciate anything appealing to the eye.

Gaara did not look like he enjoyed being stared at and he motioned for her to sit on the sofa.

Ino eyed him as she made her way through the bare room. She sat down obediently and turned to her side when Gaara sat down beside her. She knew he was going to brief her on the elders now. The expression on his face promised a not-so-good talk. His shoulders were stiff and his hands were gripping his knees so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"They will ask you many questions about us. It would be best if we prepare a story in case they inquire on the specifics," Gaara said softly. He kept his eyes down on the ugly floor mat. He seemed to be really uncomfortable with this setting, and Ino knew she could not blame him; it was the first time for her to be in such a predicament, too.

"Oh, okay then. So… where do we start?" Ino pulled at a lock of hair that was dangling behind her ear. "Maybe with how we first became interested in each other?"

"Four years ago, at Naruto's inauguration," Gaara said quickly.

Ino blinked at him in disbelief. "Wow, that was fast. You must have put a lot of thought into this."

"Not really," Gaara said flatly. "Everyone was there on that day. Everyone was drunk then. No one could deny it otherwise."

"Good point," she said, laughing as she remembered that day. "Did you have a good time then? I wasn't able to mingle much with the representatives during the party."

"It had been an interesting night. I liked the flower arrangements."

Ino brightened. "Really? I made those!"

"I know. Temari told me." Gaara nodded, then asked, "What's your favorite flower?"

Ino was caught off-guard. "My favorite flower? I guess I like tulips. Yellow tulips. And cosmos. You should see the fields in Konoha at summer. Cosmos everywhere."

Gaara nodded again, as if trying to take in everything she was saying.

Remembering that he was getting as much information from her for the elders, she asked him a question, too. "You hate tomatoes, that one I know already, but what about your favorite food?"

"Liver," Gaara said, then added quietly, "I don't like sweet bean jelly, either. More than I hate tomatoes."

Ino gave him a rueful look. "I like cherry tomatoes, just so you know."

"We can always compromise," he said.

"When did we start going out?" Ino asked curiously.

"Two years ago, when I visited the Leaf and you helped my research for raising medical herbs in the desert," Gaara answered without a pause.

Again, it surprised Ino to no end. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

This time, Gaara actually turned to look at her. She involuntarily backed away when those steady, dark-rimmed green eyes met her blue ones. "I am. The council members are no laughing matter."

Ino swallowed hard, and she lowered her gaze to her lap. Gaara was right. This was a mission. _Her_ mission. She nodded determinedly, then returned her gaze back to the Kazekage. "I won't let you down. I'll be the best fiancé you've ever had."

Of course, she regretted saying that the moment the words were out of her mouth. Gaara abruptly stood from the sofa and looked down at her, those eyes flat and emotionless than ever. For a person who did not look too eager to be married, Ino was probably the _only _fiancé he would ever have.

"I'm sorry to have you do something so bothersome," Gaara said.

Ino shook her head quickly. "Don't say that. It's my job."

"Hmm," Gaara murmured quietly. After a while, he walked towards the closed door that Ino still hadn't been in. She suspected this to be the bedroom. When Gaara came back out, the gourd she had been so used to seeing on him was now securely strapped over his back. Ino did not understand how he could still maintain his stiff-as-a-board posture with that on.

"Are we going?" Ino asked and she stood up from the sofa herself. Once again, she looked down at her dress. Compared the fine material of Gaara's coat, she felt her dress was just too simple for the occasion of selling herself to Gaara's advisers. She frowned. "Maybe I should change into one of the dresses Temari brought earlier? I feel a bit under-made."

Gaara slowly made his way towards her and brushed at her sleeve. "I want to present you to them as _you_, and not something we can make out of you. Your dress is perfect." The hand on her sleeve was on her hair, brushing her long bangs away from her face before dropping his arm back down at his side.

Ino smiled at him, feeling a bit nervous for a reason she could not explain. The fact that he had actually initiated body contact had her in the loop. "I'll try to be myself in front of them, though to tell you honestly I have no idea what's going to happen."

"I'm right here. Just here," was what he said and he held out his hand out to her. "It's still very early, andI want to drop by the administrations room in the tower before we meet them."

Ino looked down at his hand. She saw it shake a bit, giving away the nervousness that was not present on his face. She placed her own hand on top of his, and she saw the blue diamond on her left ring finger sparkle in the light of the room. She was suddenly very aware of its weight. The next thing she noticed was the undeniable softness of Gaara's hand. Gaara's fighting style never required him to hold a weapon unless necessary, and protecting himself came second-nature to his sand. The only rough spots were on the tips of his fingers Ino assumed to be from numerous paper cuts, and there was ink under the fingernails of his right hand. These were most probably from writing endless scrolls in his office that concerned the affairs of the Sand.

Gaara was looking down at their hands curiously. Perhaps he hadn't been expecting her to actually hold hands with him. Once again, he looked really lost in his own home, and Ino wondered how such a tall person could actually look small by just standing there.

"I'd like to see your office. That way, I could tell if you're a slob or not. I can't tell your personality by looking at your house. There's nothing here," Ino said jokingly.

Gaara nodded and wordlessly led her out of the empty house.

The temperature had dropped considerably, and Ino was grateful for that. She had spent many nights in the Sand and she knew that the desert was horribly hot in the day but got horribly cold when the sun sets. Tonight, the freezing wind was a god-sent; it made her alert as she looked out through the darkly lit alleys. It was the first time she had actually stepped out in the Hidden Sand at this time, and the small windows of the dome-shaped houses with lights spilling from the inside were so beautiful it could have been cut from a postcard. She looked up and saw the broad expanse of the desert evening sky and laughed when she saw the stars splattered to the thousands overhead.

Gaara turned to her. "What's so funny?"

Ino pointed upwards. "That's amazing! Konoha's evenings are always so well-lit that you have to go to the hills just to star-gaze."

Stopping on his tracks, Gaara looked up at the sky too. "I haven't noticed them before."

"That's because you're always working. You know, indoors."

"I have to," Gaara said, and he started walking again, gently pulling Ino along.

Ino hurriedly fell in step with him and peered up at his profile. With the street lights casting shadows over his face, he looked even more tired than ever. Temari and Kankurou had said that he spends more time in his office than at home, and that he sleeps on his documents, if he slept at all… She had believed them then, because the house he had for ten years barely looked lived in at all.

"Will you be coming home with me after the meeting?" Ino asked softly.

"I have paperwork to finish sorting before the representatives come tomorrow night," Gaara said, not really answering her question, meaning that he might not be coming home tonight at all.

Ino craned her neck to see his face clearly. "How long will you be able to finish it?"

Gaara shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why?"

Ino mimicked his shoulder-shrug. "Nothing. Just asking."

Gaara paused a bit before clearing his throat, then asked, "Would you want me to come home tonight?"

Ino flashed him her best smile. "Of course! This is the first day we get to live together and it would be too suspicious if you stayed in your office as if you're still single and have nothing better to do but work all those lonely hours of the night when you can just stay with your darling fiancé who would give you massages and sponge baths!"

Gaara missed a step. He cast her a side-long glance. "You would give me sponge baths?" he asked.

"I was speaking figuratively," Ino said flatly. "But no, really. You should make it a habit to come home to me every night especially in the weekends."

"The Hidden Sand doesn't have weekends," Gaara said seriously.

"Neither does Konoha, but you don't see Naruto shutting himself in his office all night and never going home just because he's Hokage." Ino urged him to keep walking. "Time isn't something someone normally _has_. It's something someone normally has to _make_. You have to make time for yourself from now on. Well, at least for a whole month."

"Make… time…?" Gaara seemed to be pondering on the thought. After a whole minute, he nodded. "I'll try."

Feeling quite satisfied with herself, the two of them proceeded to the Kazekage tower in silence. Through the winding halls, once again greeting people they pass, some of the young women they would meet did double-takes when they noticed their Kazekage-sama was having an evening stroll with a blonde with a very, very pretty rock on a very, very significant finger. Some even had the courage to pull at each others' sleeve and whisper loudly while pointing.

Ino, seeing the perfect opportunity, let go of Gaara's hand and laced her arm through his. Gaara looked down at her questioningly. She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Just using the situation to our advantage."

Gaara looked over his shoulder and saw the women watching them. They hurriedly bowed their heads and went their way when they realized they were caught staring. "I see what you mean." He continued his steady strides slowly until they turned a corner.

Ino sighed in relief to find that corridor empty. "Anyway, is there anything else I have to know about your elders."

Gaara shook his head. "Just remember, they will inspect you like livestock. Don't take it personally."

Ino winced. "Livestock. Got it."

They eventually made it to Gaara's office at the top-most floor of the tower. He did not pause as he opened the door and walked in first, letting Ino follow. Ino was amused at the sight of the spacious circular room. The first thing that caught her attention was the desk sitting by on the opposite side of the room. For one thing, it had but two thin stacks of important-looking papers on it, as opposed to Naruto's desk back home, where documents were practically spilling to the floor. It was obvious, Gaara worked, and he worked _good_. In fact, he had already deposited his gourd by the window and taken a seat behind that desk and without missing a beat had begun flipping through those papers, once in a while pausing to read anything that he thought needed the most priority.

In the meantime, Ino took to exploring the office. As expected, the personality missing from Gaara's house was instead found in his workplace.

Much to Ino's relief, Gaara did not look like he was a slob. If anything, he was pretty organized. She ran a finger over the books lined in the huge shelf occupying the whole of one of the walls. The books were all arranged in alphabetical order, containing things from Suna's history down to the Wind Country's many different desert colony cultures.

An unmade sofa bed was pushed against the corner opposite those shelves, and by the way the sheets were wrinkled, Ino could tell that there was more tossing and turning done than actual sleeping. She noticed his pillow covers and sheets were yellow. She shifted her gaze to the window near his desk. His curtains were also yellow. She smiled at the thought that Gaara might have a certain attachment to the color.

Right next to those windows was a tall counter with a few personal belongings on it. Ino sneaked a glance at Gaara to check if he wasn't looking, then hurried over to the counter for a quick inspection. She gasped in delight when she saw several picture frames sitting in a neat row on the counter aside from a disposable razor and a toothbrush in a yellow cup.

There was a picture of the three siblings when they were kids. Ino supposed the picture was taken before or during the Chuunin exams, because the tension around Gaara's shoulders and eyes were still evidently there. And my, Gaara was _short_. Another picture showed Gaara and Naruto. As usual, Naruto was grinning from ear to ear with his hands making a peace sign while Gaara was awkwardly smiling at the camera. Ino recognized this from Naruto's inauguration four years ago. Ino absentmindedly wiped a bit of dust clinging on the Gaara in the picture before turning to the rest of the photographs beside it. The others contained people she didn't know. Most of them were kids, receiving their hitai-ate, mugging the camera, practicing their katas. Many, many children. Could they be Gaara's students before? Another photo was of Gaara with his arms crossed over his chest, and a girl with brown, shoulder-length hair, her hands daintily tucked behind her as she smiled shyly, not at the camera, but up at Gaara. This picture must have been taken when Gaara was seventeen or eighteen. The gourd on his back was there, of course. But he looked… comfortable in that two-shot. The girl looked awfully familiar to Ino.

Ino's attention was next caught by the tiny built-in refrigerator right under the counter. She once again looked over her shoulder to check if Gaara was still busy. The man was crumpling a few papers and dropping them into a waiting trash can by his feet. When she was sure his attention was still on his work, Ino shamelessly opened the refrigerator.

The contents surprised her. The top shelf was stacked completely with energy drinks. The bottom shelf had a small can of tuna, a plastic box Ino didn't know what was containing, and – surprise, surprise! – wet towels stacked on a plate. She closed the door in resignation. She did not understand how such a hard-working man could survive on energy drinks and food supplements alone.

A knock on the door brought Ino standing rod straight.

"Enter," Gaara ordered.

Ino's eyebrows instantly shot up her forehead. While Gaara's voice had stuck her to be deep and a bit intimidating, it sounded even more so now. Actually, now that she looked at it, the Gaara in his house, and the Gaara in his office looked like they were completely different people. Back at his house, it felt like… like Gaara didn't _belong_. He hardly talked, he hardly moved, but Ino had sensed he had been curious about everything as if it was his first time at anything they did earlier in the day.

_As if he was eager to learn about things outside his job…_

She remembered the Gaara poking from stall to stall to examine fruits, vegetables and other colorful things in the market place. Then Ino remembered how he had been suspicious of everything she tried to introduce to him.

Now... now she understood why. And it was because it _may_ have been his first time to do those things.

But now, watching him move through his office as if he were simply breathing, made Ino understand that _this_ was his element. This was what he _did_. This was what he _was_.

The door opened and admitted a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was wearing his hitai-ate around his left arm. Ino assumed he was already a chuunin, by the way he held himself – still a bit aloof said he was not a jounin yet.

"Excuse me, Kazekage-sama," said the boy as he gave a formal salute and stood before Gaara stiffly. He glanced quickly at Ino, the confusion marring his face as to why the Kazekage-sama had a lady-friend with him in his office. He returned his attention to Gaara. "I heard you've returned to the tower so I came to deliver the traffic report for today."

Gaara was eying the boy intently as he extended his hand and took the report the boy had tucked under his arm. "Thank you for your hard work, Iwate-kun." He paused, then, "How was your day today?"

The boy – Iwate – instantly brightened and, forgetting Ino's presence completely, launched into a very happy and very detailed account on his first ever gate duty that day. Gaara listened patiently, nodding once in a while, smiling a bit on the parts when Iwate would laugh and make a joke.

"I'm glad you had an interesting day," Gaara said when the boy was finished with his story. "You have a mission tomorrow to guard a trade group headed to the Fire country, right?"

Iwate nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir. I'll be back in a week, sir."

"I'm counting on you, then." Gaara pulled out a piece of parchment from the lower drawer of his desk and started jotting down something on it. "On your way back, I'd like you to pick up several things for me. They're not heavy, and they're not rare either so I don't think you would have any problems carrying them back." He peppered the parchment with sand to dry the ink quickly, folded it neatly into two then handed it to the boy.

"Understood, sir. You can count on me, sir," Iwate said, slipping the paper into his pocket without bothering to read it.

"Thank you. You are dismissed. Be careful tomorrow."

"Sir." The boy gave another formal salute, then moved to leave through the door.

"Oh, and one more thing," Gaara said.

Iwate turned back towards Gaara, confused. "Sir?"

"This is Yamanaka Ino of the Hidden Leaf." Gaara gestured at Ino out of the blue. "My wife-to-be."

Ino nearly jumped when Iwate turned to her with eyes wide as saucers.

"Your… your _wife-to-be_, Kazekage-sama?" Iwate stuttered, face coloring.

Ino waved at the boy weakly and she slowly made her way to Gaara, stopping behind him on his chair. Could there be more awkward situations than this? The boy was ogling them now.

"It's nice to meet you, Yamanaka-san!" Iwate suddenly blurted, then as if the spell of awkwardness had been broken, he gestured at her excitedly. "I've heard a lot about you from Temari-sensei. She said you were the one responsible for the abundance of medical herbs in the greenhouses of Suna." He started to blush. "I didn't know you were engaged to the Kazekage-sama."

Ino laughed mirthlessly. _Neither did I. _She placed her hands on Gaara's shoulders. "We weren't very vocal about it."

"You're really pretty!" Iwate suddenly said out loud. His face turned into a violent shade of red the moment the words were out.

Gaara waved a hand at him, then said lightly, "That's enough. The only one who is allowed to ogle her beauty is I. You are dismissed."

Iwate sheepishly bowed his head. "Excuse me, sir. Good night, sir. Good night, Yamanaka-san." And the boy was gone.

"Wow," Ino said, slightly impressed.

"Iwate is a hardworking boy. He's young and he gets excited over the simplest of things, but he's smart and he follows orders well. His only problem is, he's honest with everything and isn't ashamed to say it to your face," Gaara said, his hands already busy with the traffic report he had received from the boy.

"No. When I said 'wow', I meant _you_." She gave his shoulders a light pat before making her way to the sofa bed and sitting down comfortably.

Gaara tore his eyes away from the report and gave Ino a look. "What about me?"

Ino waved her hands at him. "Everything! When we were in your house, you barely talked. You didn't even look like you knew what to do with yourself, and then I see you _here_. I saw you relating with your subordinates. I see _you_. It's amazing."

It took a while for Gaara to process what Ino had just pointed out. "I've been the Kazekage for over a decade now. This is what I _am_. When I'm not here, what else is there to do?" He closed the report and used his stamp on it, then placed it carefully on the edge of his desk.

"You could, you know, sleep in your house once in a while," Ino offered.

"What Temari and Kankurou said was not a lie. I'm almost never home. It's easier to be here, in case anyone needed me. If anything happened, I would be the first to know. I've had that house for as long as I've been Kage, but I feel lost when I'm there. I can't sleep there."

"Well, it looks like you can't sleep here, either," Ino pointed out, gesturing at the sofa bed she was sitting on.

Gaara opened his mouth, closed it again when he found he did not have anything to counter what she just said. "Sleep hates me," he said instead.

"You know what? You're a workaholic. You're only the Kazekage. You're not God." Ino shrugged. "I bet this is the reason why your elders are actually insisting you get married. They're probably thinking that you're bound to kill yourself if a woman doesn't stand in your way."

Gaara did not find this funny. "They want me to get married so I can finally sire an heir. This marriage is to secure the future of the Sand. But I'm not going to sacrifice the happiness of a woman because of what they believe in. There had been too many of those in the Sand's history." Gaara closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I don't think I can make any woman who's married to me happy. She will be miserable all her life, and she'll curse me forever for her unhappiness."

Ino knew what he was trying to say, but still… "You still can't deny the fact that your elders are right about an heir. You know shinobi blood matters in the succession of Kage."

"I don't want to have a child who would be born because for the village's necessity and not out of love." Gaara's eyes opened and they kept staring straight at the ceiling. He looked drained suddenly, as if he had withdrawn back into his shell just like he had been earlier in the day.

She could see where Gaara was coming from, but it was actually the first time she had heard of a ninja who made such a big deal out of it. Then again, between the two of them, Gaara was the one who's being forced to get married and not Ino, so she guessed she couldn't fully understand his feelings.

Ino decided to change the subject. "You look cool, by the way."

Gaara's green eyes slowly traveled back to her face. _"Cool?"_

"You know, sitting there, doing your job. It suits you. You look… _comfortable_. The most comfortable I've seen all day."

Gaara sat up straighter in his chair. "I am comfortable. I like what I do."

"That's a good thing, I suppose." Ino added, as if in an after-thought, "But of course, your fiancé's here from Konoha to stay with you for a month, so you're going to try to balance your priorities, right?"

"My… priorities…" Gaara nodded seriously. "I'll try my best."

Trying his best should be enough for now. Ino was a perfectionist when it came to missions, and she did not have any intentions of failing this one for whatever reason there could be.

"Let's _do _our best."

* * *

Gaara spent a bit more time on his work while Ino busied herself with a book she found about rare plants in the desert. When Gaara finally put down his calligraphy brush and said that it was time to meet with his elders, Ino returned the book to the shelf and followed him out of his office. It turns out they will be waiting in a meeting room just down the hall.

Ino noticed Gaara's stiff frame and she touched his shoulder gently. "Relax. What's the worse that could happen?"

"A lot," Gaara said sadly, but he did loosen his shoulders and took a deep breath when Ino slipped her arm through his. He was back in his shell again, unsure of what he had to do. The traces of confidence he displayed in his own environment was gone. "They can see through me. They always see through me…"

Ino squeezed his arm lightly. "Just be yourself." Although _'Gaara'_ was a fluid concept right now since he keeps on switching from one personality to another depending on his environment and state of mind. "Just think of it as a part of your job that concerns Suna. Which it _is_, right?"

"I know," Gaara said hesitantly, but didn't elaborate any further.

By the time they were standing outside the door of said meeting room, Gaara had regained his bearings and had composed his facial features. Another first for Ino. The man's jaw was set and his chin was held high. Those eyes were placid, not like the time when he was in his house where he looked detached, and not like the time when he was in his office when he looked at ease. This time, he was just… _placid_, like how the deep-end of a lake would look on a clear day. This was his 'I'm-off-to-battle' look. Ino found it amusing to have such a serious expression when he was just going to knock on a door.

Ino was expecting to find a room full of evil-looking old men and women, ready to skin her alive the moment she entered the room. And she was emotionally prepared for it, actually. She had to thank Naruto for that, getting her used to be prepared for anything.

That was why she was honestly disappointed to find but five people in the room.

"Yo," Kankurou greeted, giving them both a salute. He was in the normal Suna outfit composed of a loose, dark robe and a white poncho-like top.

Temari was sitting on one of the chairs around the U-shaped table, clad in a black kimono. She tilted her head to Ino and Gaara to acknowledge them, but she didn't say anything.

Sitting across the older sand sibling were two men. One was very old, with a turban over his head and white eyebrows so long they nearly brushed his cheeks. He was smiling at Ino, or at least she thought he was; his hooded eyes were hardly visible to her.

Right next to the old man was Baki, who Ino knew from several occasions when she visited the Sand with Shikamaru. As always, he had the left side of his face covered with a white sheet. His one exposed eye was also watching her. Ino didn't know if he recognized her, but the visible corner of his lip was turned up into a slight grin.

The last person Ino noticed was a girl about her age, with shoulder-length brown hair and dark eyes. She was leaning against the far wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She was looking at Ino steadily, examining her. Ino thought she looked familiar, and then she remembered the picture in Gaara's office.

"Where are the other council members?" Gaara asked as he surveyed the room. Ino noticed the brown-haired girl lower her arms to her side when Gaara spoke.

"They are too busy with the welcoming preparations for the young ladies who will be coming over tomorrow, Gaara," Baki said as he motioned for the two of them to have a seat next to Temari.

"Shouldn't we just be honest to them and say that the other council members aren't really interested in meeting your fiancé because they think you're lying?" Kankurou said bluntly.

Temari narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Kankurou!"

"Well, it's true!" Kankurou turned to Gaara knowingly. "You know them."

Gaara returned a poisonous look at the puppet master as he pulled a chair for Ino to sit down. "Watch your mouth."

"But – !"

"Why don't we start with the introductions, then," Baki interrupted hastily. "Matsuri, you should take a seat now."

The brown-haired girl – Matsuri – nodded and sat beside the old man, who was still watching Ino from under those eyebrows.

Kankurou also took a seat beside Temari. "Sheesh! Why is everyone so stiff here?"

"It's because your humor is greatly misplaced," Temari muttered.

Gaara took a seat to Ino's right after leaving his gourd behind them by the wall. "And why are _you_ here?" he suddenly asked, looking straight at the girl named Matsuri, who was conveniently sitting right across him.

Ino raised an eyebrow when she saw the girl flush a bright pink before turning away. She was definitely missing something here.

"I had wanted to see… if it was true…" Matsuri said quietly, and she started twiddling her thumbs idly. "You're really getting married, Gaara-sama?"

Ino watched as Gaara's face softened as he looked at the girl before him. His hands, clenched into fists, relaxed on the table and they looked like he wanted to reach out to the girl. He immediately placed those hands onto his lap. He nodded. "Yes."

Matsuri winced at his answer, but recovered quickly. She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm happy for you." She turned to Ino and bowed her head low. "I'm happy for both of you, Yamanaka-san."

Ino watched the girl who had her head bent and groaned inwardly. She hasn't put into consideration the possibility that there might actually be women in the Sand who may have true feelings for Gaara. She wondered how she could have miscalculated this. Gaara was, after all, a very good-looking man. And him being the strongest in the village was just an added bonus.

Perhaps she had actually underestimated this mission. While she had categorized this a mere plot to deceive, it turns out she had found herself weaving through the complicated sea of Suna politics, and she learned just now that there may be people's feelings they would end up crushing in the process.

"It's nice to meet you, Matsuri," Ino said as she, too, lowered her head solemnly. "I hope we become good friends." Though she highly doubted it.

Matsuri gave her a tight smile. "Me, too." And she stared down at her lap.

"This is our honored grandfather, Ebizo-sama," Baki said after a very, very awkward silence. He was gesturing at the very old man with the long, bushy eyebrows. "He is not a part of the council, but we value his opinion like gold here in Suna."

Ino bowed to the man, Ebizo. "A pleasure to meet you, Ebizo-sama. My name is Yamanaka Ino, from the Hidden Village of the Leaves. Our Hokage sends his best regards."

Ebizo continued to stare at her silently. Ino met his invisible gaze head-on. Most of the important people Ino had to deal with were like him: calculating, careful. And if Ebizo-sama was going follow that pattern, then it was bound he would ask, out of the blue, a very distracting question.

"Tell me, child. Do you like fishing?" Ebizo asked as he leaned his elbows on the table.

See? A very distracting question. Ino smiled good-naturedly. "It's a requirement for survival training in the Leaf, so I'm a fairly good fisher. But no, I don't consider it as something I would do for fun, Ebizo-sama."

Temari grinned at her approvingly and Kankurou leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing.

It was Gaara's turn to talk, and Ino was once again left in awe at the strong presence he was emitting when he turned to Baki and said, "I think I made it clear to the council that Ino will be presenting herself tonight."

Baki cleared his throat, evidently bothered. "As Kankurou had bluntly put it earlier, they don't believe you, Gaara. They're convinced that you're trying to… ah… weasel your way out of this responsibility by sticking to your story a few months back about being betrothed to a Konoha kunoichi. Of course, Ebizo-sama and I would never dare disrespect an ally of the Sand – "

"Tell them that they will meet with me first thing tomorrow morning. This form of disrespect will not be excused," Gaara said in a soft, somewhat menacing voice. The gourd he had placed by the wall behind him rattled violently.

"Got it," Kankurou said as he flipped open a small notebook that he had procured from his robes and hurriedly jotted down something in it.

Ino quickly touched Gaara's shoulder, squeezing him gently. The gourd stopped rattling immediately. "Gaara, it's all right. Actually, I'm kind of glad they're not here. You don't know how relieved I was when I saw there were just five people in here." She gave him a weary smile. "I don't mind. Really."

Gaara still did not look convinced but he nodded anyway. "I'm sorry about this."

Ebizo laughed. "Yes, being interrogated by many strangers would rattle anyone. Let the council believe what they believe, Ino-chan. I, for one, think you would be a wonderful bride for our Kazekage-sama."

Ino covered her face demurely, pretending to be a bit flattered. "I'm happy to hear you say that, Ebizo-sama." If the council of the Sand values this man's opinion like gold, then they've practically had this in the bag.

Ebizo nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, yes. You have very good, child-bearing hips. I noticed that the moment you walked in."

Ino practically choked in her own spit.

Kankurou let out a muffled laugh, which he immediately cut off when Temari threw him a deadly look that could have been even more convincing if her own face was not flushed from the effort of stopping herself from laughing as well.

Ino threw Gaara a wide-eyed glare, asking for help.

Gaara ignored her as his face colored a bit and he cast his eyes down.

_Traitor! _Ino thought, and she giggled shrilly. If someone said you have 'very good, child-bearing hips', should one consider it a compliment? Didn't that mean she had wide hips? She certainly did _not _have wide hips!

"You're embarrassing her. She doesn't like it when we talk about her figure," Gaara suddenly said, taking Ino's hand.

Matsuri jerked a bit in her seat as she watched Gaara gently rubbed Ino's wrist with his thumb.

Of all the people she had to worry about in that room, she knew it should be Ebizo and Baki. But for some reason, she was more worried for Matsuri.

"No girl would want to talk about her figure in public," Ino said to Gaara.

Gaara's hand paused and he turned on his chair to face Ino better. "You don't want to talk about it in private, either. And you still squeal when I walk in on you naked."

Temari nearly fell off her chair. Baki's jaw dropped. Matsuri let out a loud gasp. Kankurou was sniggering into his hand. Ebizo looked like he was enjoying himself, nodding excitedly.

Ino didn't believe Gaara was capable of making such an embarrassing adlib. The one thing that surprised her about it the most was that it nearly threw her off her concentration. Gaara had never walked in on her naked, and even if he did, she doubted he would have escaped with her just squealing at him! If Gaara was going to play like that to convince anyone, then so be it.

She swiftly grabbed Gaara's hand and twined her fingers with his long, slender ones. "You're very naughty. You always do it on purpose, walking in on me when I'm trying to get dressed. Or when I'm taking a bath…"

Gaara blinked at her, not giving anything away, but Ino noticed his cheeks blush faintly. He gripped her hand tightly. "I'm sorry. It's just that you always ask me to turn the lights off when we're in bed, even when you know I prefer them on."

It was Temari's turn to gasp loudly. Kankurou was nodding appreciatively. Baki didn't know what else to do. Ebizo was laughing openly now.

Matsuri, on the other hand, had catapulted to a standing position, causing her chair to fall back with a bang. The loud sound made Ino and Gaara jump.

"E-e-excuse me… I just remembered I have to be somewhere else right now. Kazekage-sama. Ebizo-sama," Matsuri said weakly and she bowed to Gaara and the old man before practically running out of the meeting room.

Snapping out of the silent challenge she and Gaara had, she instantly felt guilty as she watched the door close behind the girl.

Baki cleared his throat once more, wiping the exposed side of his face with the palm of his hand. "Oh… well… we didn't know you were… ah… We didn't know you were very… _close_."

Gaara's serious expression was back oh his face as he turned back to Baki. "Isn't that the reason why you called Ino and me? You wanted to see if I was telling the truth."

Ebizo grinned a toothy grin. "If my sister were alive, she would have loved _you_. You have spunk. And it looks like you can take care of the Kazekage well. We don't want submissive little ladies who would do anything they were told."

Baki shook his head. "Unfortunately, Gaara, the delegates and their daughters are still coming tomorrow night."

Gaara's grip tightened even more around Ino's hand that it almost hurt. "Tell them they aren't needed. I told you that I'm already spoken for."

Baki sighed. "Look, Gaara. You know as much as I do that we can't do that. Majority of those delegates have left their towns and colonies two days ago just to get here on time."

Gaara's eyes flashed angrily; the very first raw emotion Ino has seen in him today. "Well maybe if you had believed me three months ago that I already have my heart set on a single woman, then this wouldn't be happening," he said slowly. The anger Ino could detect from those eyes never reached his voice. If anything, he remained monotonous as he continued. "We will show them our hospitality during their stay, but that would be all. Those who wish to leave earlier than a month may do so, but none may over-stay."

Ebizo started stroking his wrinkled chin with an equally wrinkled hand. "Well, of course, even with a few dozen little ladies all here for a chance to snatch your heart away, there really wouldn't be a problem, since it already belongs to someone else, right Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes at the old man.

Ino suddenly felt her defenses go up involuntarily. The earlier laughing old man was now leaning back on his chair, those thin lips moving as if muttering to himself.

"That's right, Ebizo-ojii," Gaara said emotionlessly.

Those thin lips stretched on either side as he smiled blandly. "That is, of course,_ if_ you really are not lying. Which you_ aren't,_ am I correct?"

Ino felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end, and she did not even realize she had started clinging onto Gaara's hand as if her life depended on it. She shook herself quickly, then put on her best smile. "I don't think normal people would lie about something this serious, sir. With all due respect." She is so screwed. So royally screwed.

Gaara was suddenly up on his feet, the hand holding Ino's was now planted on in front of him on the table. "I have offered my everything to this village unconditionally for fourteen years," Gaara started, his voice so low Ino had to strain to make sure she heard. "I have taken every single insult, every single untrusting look, every single frightened glance until I finally earned the trust I've worked hard for. I never complained even once, because I promised myself that I would be a person who is needed, and not as some weapon that everyone is afraid of."

Kankurou's laughter faded immediately and he looked up at Gaara as if seeing him for the first time.

"Gaara… " Temari whispered.

Gaara's eyes darted from Baki to Ebizo. "But just this once in my life, I want to be _loved_, more than _needed_. And I want to offer my _love_, more than my _services _to a person, not out of _duty_, but out of the _desire _to do so willingly." With this, he pushed his chair away gently and made to pick up the gourd by the wall. He busied himself with strapping it on his back.

And at that moment, Ino knew that what Gaara said had not been an act. If anything, that heartfelt confession of what he truly felt was so heart wrenchingly sincere that she found herself getting up from her seat and following Gaara as he made his way towards the door. She quickly took his hand. She did not even know if Gaara found this comforting or not, but he did squeeze back.

He had his other hand on the doorknob, but before he opened the door for her, he turned back to the room and directed his last words to Ebizo and Baki. "I owe it to myself that I marry the woman I choose to love forever. And it will be _my _decision. For once. Good evening to you." And he opened the door and was out of there in a heartbeat. Ino let herself get dragged along with him.

They did not talk all the way back to his house. Ino didn't mind. Right now, she just let everything be as it was until Gaara felt like talking to her.

Unfortunately, Gaara did not look like he wanted to talk to her at all.

* * *

Ino had just taken a well-deserved bath and was brushing her hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom when Gaara finally felt like being social to her. She had left the door open and he had appeared behind her. Their eyes met in the mirror. He looked even paler in the poor lighting of that small space, and those dead eyes looked as exhausted as ever.

"Hi," Ino started.

"Hello," Gaara said back.

Ino waited for him to tell her what he wanted. Then she remembered he was practically handicap in this certain environment. She put down the brush on the sink and turned to face him. "How are you feeling?"

Gaara shifted his weight from one foot to another. "I feel like going back to work… I still have one more stack of papers left finishing."

Ino didn't know if she should laugh or cry. "That's not what I meant. I was referring to today's talk with Baki-san and Ebizo-sama."

"I feel nothing," Gaara said, but Ino knew he was lying. After having poured his heart out like that for probably the first time in his life, she doubted he was feeling 'nothing'. She knew better than to press him about it, though.

She picked up her brush again and said, "Why don't we have a cup of tea. I suddenly remembered I brought with me some chamomile tea. Did you know that chamomile tea relaxes your muscles and relieves anxiety? Maybe it will help you fall asleep better."

"I don't sleep," Gaara pointed out.

"Maybe you can sleep tonight?"

Gaara simply gave her a one-eyed stare.

Ino led the way to the living room where she had abandoned her rucksack right next to the boxes Kankurou had hauled over. Gaara followed and was now watching as she searched for the can of the favorite tea she had brought with her from home. It was then did she come across the scroll Naruto had wanted her to give to Gaara.

"Oh, oh! I almost forgot this!" She straightened up and handed the scroll to him.

The man relatively brightened – which isn't saying much – as he received said scroll. "Naruto."

Ino watched Gaara bring the scroll with him and follow her again to the kitchen. He immediately sat down on the dining table, the scroll a perfect distraction from the alien territory that was his own kitchen. Ino got to taking out the kettle to boil some water, then proceeded to preparing two clay cups and a tea strainer. She leaned her hip on the sink and observed Gaara reading his scroll at the corner of her eye.

The more she tried to analyze today, the more complicated her predicament seemed to her. Aside from the fact that she still wasn't given the chance to assess the council – because the idiots have decided to ditch her, the old farts! – she was once again left in the dark. She would have been more comfortable if she knew what she would be facing. Surely they would have better things to do than press Gaara to get married. The Sand has more things to do than convince the Kazekage to get hitched, right?

Ino saw Gaara's eyes move slowly up and down at the scroll, as if deep in concentration. It was weird to have him look so serious while reading a scroll from a friend as if he was reading one of his documents back in his office.

Gaara sighed and he rolled up the scroll timidly.

"What did it say?" Ino asked curiously. She was expecting a better reaction from him.

The man looked up at her, and Ino could see he was thinking it to himself if he should tell her or not.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "It was something about me, right?"

Gaara continued to stare at her. Then, after a moment, "Naruto said you are bossy, competitive and very, very vain. He said I should watch out for you."

Ino felt a muscle on her left cheek twitch. She did not know what Naruto was trying to do, making his chosen representative look bad, but she was going to make sure he paid for it after this month was up. Of course, there wasn't anything she could do to defend herself, because she knew her negative traits more than anyone, and Naruto had summed her up perfectly in that one sentence. She wiped her brow with her knuckle, not knowing how to respond.

Gaara was back to examining his scroll. "I'm confused."

"With what?" Ino asked.

"You are nothing like how he described you."

Ino paused and let Gaara's comment settle in. He had just complimented her, right? That was most definitely a compliment. Damn it, Ino wasn't very good with personal compliments coming from very important people. To simply accept them would make her look like she loved flattery – which she did – but considering the position right now, the last she wanted the Kazekage to think was that she was hungry for adoration. In normal circumstances, she wouldn't have cared. But this was the Kazekage, and her mission was to convince everyone she and Gaara were madly in love with each other and are planning to get married. Having Gaara think of her in a bad light wouldn't serve her well in her mission.

She shrugged. "What Naruto said was true. I have the tendency to boss people around, especially back in my academy days."

Gaara was interested. "Did you have a right to be bossy?"

Ino shrugged. "I was the girl who got the best grades in class. I guess I thought I was all that. I get competitive when I feel threatened. But I'm not ashamed of that trait. It's what made me the kunoichi that I am. I just hate it when Sakura leaves me behind in anything, which is what got me into medical ninjutsu in the first place." And that was when she suddenly remembered something about earlier. "Gaara?"

The Kazekage's head tilted slightly to the side in inquiry.

"It's been at the tip of my tongue all night. That girl, Matsuri, was the student you rescued back in our genin days, right? I remember that day clearly. Our batch was there." She smiled at the memory. She couldn't forget that day. It was one of the greatest turning points in her life, and one of the most humbling experiences for her. It was the time when she had swallowed her pride and begged Sakura to ask Tsunade-sama to teach her medical ninjutsu as well.

Gaara nodded. "She was my first student."

Ino lightly crossed her arms over her stomach. "She seemed really affected by this marriage thing."

"I'm sorry for her behavior earlier," Gaara said frowning. "She is usually polite and cheerful."

Ino's eyebrows involuntarily climbed her forehead. Gaara was missing her point. "She seemed like she wasn't comfortable with this setting at all. Did she know, you know, that we were… " Ino asked, pointing her finger at her, then at Gaara, then back again.

"I never told her. I didn't see the necessity to do so," Gaara said, not the least bit aware what Ino was trying to say.

Well, if it came down to this, then she might as well try saying it straight out. "I think she may have feelings for you."

Gaara blinked. Ino frowned. She was expecting more from him than just a bat of his eyelashes. He averted his gaze from as he stood up and made his way to the sink. Ino made some space for him when he reached out and took the can of chamomile on the pantry right next to the clay cups she had prepared. Ino did not take Gaara to be good at dodging uncomfortable subjects in a conversation, but here he was, shaking the can curiously in his hand and ignoring her proposed subject completely.

Matsuri must be a topic he didn't want to discuss, and for the sake of diplomacy, Ino didn't want to push. She watched as Gaara opened the can of dried flowers and leaves and tentatively took a sniff at it. He seemed to like what he smelled because he once again stuck his nose deeper into the can, just like what he did earlier in the market place with the hibiscus. He sat down on the dining table again, nose still in can.

Ino could only watch him as he did this for about a whole minute before finally giving up on it and screwing the cap back on. She wondered if Gaara was going to be like this every time he came home. There has to be some way she could make him just as comfortable here as much as he could be in his own office. It would do wonders for her sanity as well.

The kettle whistled happily and Ino practically jumped, startled. She didn't realize she had been staring at Gaara like an idiot. It was a good thing the man was as oblivious as a boulder. Killing the fire, she readied the teapot. Turning around to collect the can of chamomile from Gaara, she was surprised when she found her nose inches away from the man's chest. She hastily backed against the sink and looked up to find him staring down at her, those green, dark-rimmed eyes as dead as always.

"Here," Gaara said, holding the can out to her.

Ino blinked several times and took the can, then held out a finger at him. "Thank you. And please don't sneak up on me like that." Of course, Ino knew that it was not like he had meant to do that. But yeah, it was… _distracting_. Especially when he had the first three buttons of his top undone. Ino wondered why this guy couldn't just succumb to what his lineage dictated and marry a girl. Any girl would want him, obviously. Sure, he could be on the weird side, and would probably over-work six out of seven days a week. But he did not look like he was capable of cheating on you, and he did as he was told.

They drank tea in comfortable silence, with Gaara and Ino lost in each of their thoughts. God only knew what the Kazekage was thinking. The man had busied himself with his tea, always making sure to always inhale the warm aroma before taking a sip. They finished their drinks and Gaara was in and out of the shower in ten minutes while Ino cleaned up in the kitchen.

"You must be tired. You should sleep," Gaara told her as the two of them stood in the middle of the bare living room awkwardly. The fact that Gaara was in a pair of airy, loose dark pants and just a towel hanging around his shoulders was not helping. His blood-red hair was still wet, and it looked darker in the light hanging right above him on the ceiling. The broad shoulders he had bare now except for that damp towel were squared stiffly, those firm muscles on his stomach well-defined and very, _very_ nicely exposed. And although she was trying hard not to look – no, starting would be rude – she could not get over the fact that he had all _that _under the heavy robes he always wore in the day.

He waved to Ino's right, to the door Ino hadn't been in yet.

She did not know why she suddenly felt uncomfortable about this, especially when Gaara made his way to said door and looked at her expectantly, as if to ask, _'You're coming, right?'_

It was not as if she was scared that Gaara was going to do something nasty to her. In fact, she didn't think the man was, in any way, capable of being inappropriate to her. The one thing that bothered her about this situation was the obvious effort he was putting to make her sleep when she already knew that Gaara couldn't. He had told her earlier that he would rather be in his office, finishing his work. But she had told him that it would be better if he spent the night here through the duration of a month, and she was glad that he was being cooperative.

She was about to tell him how she appreciated him for this, but immediately lost all thought when Gaara pushed the door to the bedroom open and laid the sleeping quarters for Ino to see in all it's glory.

It was horrible.

There was a huge queen-sized bed, and with the way it was moving lazily about, Ino could tell it was a water bed. The sheets were red silk. _Red silk! _The pillows were abundant and they came in many different shapes and sizes. All were stuffed in red and yellow silk pillow covers. Identical round side tables were on either side of the monstrous thing of a bed, and there were short candles already burning on them. The curtains drawn across the windows were also red. And yes, silk. The rest of the furniture composed of a love seat at one side of the bed, and harmless-enough-looking cabinets. IN the corner was Gaara's sand gourd.

Aside from the gourd, Gaara couldn't have possibly chosen these… _things_.

"Let me guess. Gifts from your elders?" Ino asked dryly.

Gaara shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. "Kankurou's idea…"

_Of course…_

Gaara had the decency to look embarrassed.

Ino turned on her heel. "I'm taking the couch." She pointed at the living room.

"But I want the couch…" Gaara said sadly.

Ino paused, closed her eyes and willed herself to be an adult about this. Given, the Kazekage had a tasteless older brother with a very nasty sense of humor. She felt a sudden nagging at her stomach at the memory of something that happened earlier in the day. Something so clear and so obvious now and she wondered why she didn't recognize it sooner.

"_The only one who is allowed to ogle her beauty is I." _

"_You don't want to talk about it in private, either. And you still squeal when I walk in on you naked."_

"_It's just that you always ask me to turn the lights off when we're in bed, even when you know I prefer them on."_

She turned to face Gaara slowly. "Kankurou hasn't, by any chance, been teaching you… _things to say_, has he?"

Gaara nodded without hesitation.

_Damn it…_

That was all Ino really needed. She stepped into the terribly furnished bedroom, finally understanding that there were more enemies lurking about than she thought. She will have to make sure Kankurou – or anyone for that matter – wouldn't ruin this mission of hers.

She gave Gaara a twitchy smile. "Good night." And she slammed the door in the very confused face of the Kazekage.

* * *

**Author's Note: You know, I've always liked Ino. Back in Naruto's first season, she was described to be the second top student in class, beaten only by Sasuke. Not only was she smart, beautiful and popular, but she seemed like the defender of the oppressed, like when Sakura was being bullied by the other kids when they were still in the Academy. **

**And then Kishi turned her into… something else… Which was a disappointment…**

**In my other Naruto stories (if you've read them, though most of them are SaiSaku) I always write Ino to be different, because I think canon isn't doing her justice. She just turned into this weak, flirty thing who wears revealing clothes. I had always imagined her to be more sensitive with people's feelings, given her clan's specialty, like a sort of psychologist. Because I am writing from Ino's perspective, you might have noticed in the first chapter that I was picky with the detail, because Ino was sharp when it came to those. (like, knowing a person's occupation by just looking at their hands and things like that) **

**Random blathering. Don't mind me. XD  
**

**Leave a review if you like.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: One of my worst problems with writing a multi-chaptered fic, is that I can never seem to stick to the genre much. "The Arrangement" is supposed to be a romance/comedy, but for some reason, it keeps on slipping a bit on the serious side. You'll see what I mean in this chapter. There are a few delicate parts about puberty and growing up, so bear with me.**

* * *

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Three**

* * *

The Sand was thrown into lively festivities that night, and the huge gathering area right behind the Kazekage tower was converted into a place of dancing and music and lots and lots of food and drinks and twinkling lights hanging overhead. The party hadn't officially started yet. All the delegates and their daughters were still in their respective quarters on one of the floors of the tower. They were to be called in an hour once the Kazekage himself comes down from his office.

_If _he ever comes down from his office.

Ino was standing at the edge of the square, leaning against one of the round tables they had set all around the dance floor. Her eyes traveled across the gathering place and noted several men and women setting up musical equipment in the darker end of the buffet table. She raised an eyebrow at the dishes set out on said table and noted that most of those dishes were merely an assortment of sweet and salty finger treats.

_Of course. This is a political event disguised as a… _As a _what? _A ploy to get Gaara to pick a wife? _Yeah, that sounded about right._

Ino sighed as she crossed her bare arms over her middle. Those who had prepared this gathering must not have considered Gaara's opinion _at all_. It was obvious his councilmen have simply ignored his feelings altogether and made sure the gathering was loud and conducive for young people to drink and mingle. Ino knew at once that the daughters of those delegates were most definitely younger than they were. And judging from the variety of sweet cocktails and sours lined in the prepared ice bars in the corner, their ages may range from twenty to twenty-five.

_Give me a good shot of rum any day._

Kankurou, minus the face paint and clad in a dark tunic, appeared behind her with two cups of something with him. "You look lonely. Where's your husband?"

"Working. Big wow there." Ino raised an eyebrow at him then looked down at the cups in his hands. "Rum?" she asked hopefully.

Kankurou shook his head. "Trust me. It would be better if you stayed sober the entire night." He offered her one of the cups.

Ino took it and sniffed it suspiciously. Green tea. She took a tentative sip then continued to scan the area lazily. She was still left in the dark about Gaara's council members. The way Kankurou was talking, they looked like they were going to give her a hard time tonight. "You have scary elders," she said under her breath.

Kankurou shrugged uncaringly. "We're used to them." He abandoned his own tea on the table Ino was leaning on and imitated her with crossing his arms over his chest. "Did Gaara run you through the possible insanity that could happen tonight?"

"Vaguely," Ino said, thoughtfully touching the mouth of her cup to her bottom lip.

At around six in the morning, she had woken up in that ridiculous sea of red silk and immediately made her way out of the bedroom to see Gaara sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees, head in both hands. He had looked up the moment she stepped into the living room. It didn't look like her chamomile tea had helped him the least, but even with the obvious lack of sleep, he still looked sharp and alert, if not a bit weary and tired. And bored.

_Very_ bored.

Ino had thought of suggesting he take home the work he had waiting in his office next time so that he could at least have something to do with those hours he should normally be using to rest. But Gaara had already invited her over to sit beside him and he had starting explaining to her what could take place later that night.

Ino had listened patiently, hearing about the delegates and their daughters having been briefed by the council that the Kazekage had a kunoichi from Konoha who claims to be his fiancée. Gaara had explained to her that although the council does not believe Ino to be anything of the sort, they were not about to openly embarrass her or be hostile to her because of their alliance with Konoha. This did not mean, however, that the delegates and their daughters would do the same. The council members had expressed their anger about the Kazekage having concocted this little plan to avoid getting married, and had outright asked the delegates' support in convincing him to stop his lies.

"What's the worst they can do?" Ino asked as she looked over to Kankurou in the corner of her eye.

That was when she saw them. Apparently, the guest's quarters were on the middle floor of the Kazekage tower that overlooked the square. Coincidentally, through the windows of the hall right outside the guestrooms, Ino saw a total of seventeen silhouettes of women all looking down at the gathering place.

"Hello ladies," Kankurou muttered, and he frowned up at the tower.

Ino sucked on her front teeth and watched the women by those windows. Gaara hadn't gone much with the specifics about these delegates and the girls. Their talk that morning only clarified three things: One, the council members have already talked to the delegates that they think Gaara and Ino's engagement was a lie. Two, the delegates have agreed to cooperate with the council. And three, tonight was going to be a very, _very _long and annoying night. Seventeen girls. All here to win Gaara's heart.

_Sounds like a bad fairytale… _

"So," Kankurou suddenly said. "How'd you like the bedroom furniture?"

"We're redecorating first thing tomorrow morning," Ino said as she took another of sip of her tea.

Kankurou laughed good-naturedly. "Didn't you think it was romantic?"

Ino stared at him steadily. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Silk and candles, Yamanaka! What could be more romantic than that?"

Ino closed her eyes in resignation. Given, she was a firm believer of romance herself, but this was just… ridiculous. "I'm sure you put a lot of thought into this, but it would have been romantic only _if Gaara and I were really dating_. I am getting rid of your red sheets and curtains, and you will stay away from your brother's vocabulary."

This time, the man was slapping his knee and laughing even harder. "I can't believe he actually used those lines in front of Ebizo-ojii and Baki!"

Ino was not amused. "Well, thank you for finding the humor in all this."

"You're welcome."

Ino stared at him, appalled. "You know what? If you don't stop teaching him those very tasteless remarks, I will personally make sure you have a very, _very_ tragic accident very, _very _soon. Preferably when you're taking a bath."

Kankurou was trying to control his giggling. "Aw, come on Ino. If we don't give the guy some weapons, how's he going to fight back?"

Ino slammed her cup on the table, sloshing tea on her hand. "Your brother is trying very hard to find himself in all of _this,_" she said, gesturing at the food on the table, and the women up at the tower. "Have you seen him in his own house? He doesn't even know how he's supposed to act when he's home! He's like this working machine, defining who he is with his _title_. And then we have him attempting to break out of all _that_, trying to break away from what the council _expects_ from him, and then we have _you!_ You, who is supposed to be his ally, feeding him dirty words and masking the house he doesn't want to be in like a brothel!"

That shut Kankurou up. He started rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Sheesh! You don't have to be so mad. I was just having fun."

"Well, I'm not here to have _fun,_" Ino said, rolling her eyes. Gaara was a client. A _paying _client. And he had hired her to make sure they convinced the people that mattered that they were engaged. Well, sure after hearing Gaara's heartfelt outburst last night in the meeting room, she _may_ be letting her personal feelings get in the way of how she was seeing this. She had never been directly involved with the man before, and never in her life did she think that such an opportunity to work with him under closed quarters would come. He had simply been the Kazekage to her, and she had always thought him to be the reserved type. And aside from him being in very good terms with Naruto, she knew nothing more of him.

It had been a strange day yesterday, because she had seen so many things about the man in the mere hours they had spent together. He loved work, didn't sleep, hated tomatoes and bean paste jelly and loved liver. He was mostly stimulated by smell more than sight, though he was obviously attracted with the color yellow.

_And_ he would walk around shirtless after a shower. _And_ he had an amazing body hiding under the layers of those Wind country clothing.

Ino frowned. He sounded like a normal man to her. Couldn't he just fall in love like a _normal man? _It was evident that the girl, Matsuri, liked him, and with the way Gaara talked about her, he sort of had a soft spot for the woman, too. It bothered her, because even though Gaara had promised her that her contract was for a mere month, she could not help but wonder what Gaara was planning _after_ that month was up. Surely, he wasn't thinking of running forever. Right?

"We find it hard to look for things to talk about with Gaara," Kankurou suddenly said seriously. Ino had almost forgotten that she had just told the man off about his out-of-control sense of humor.

"So what, you try to make him more comfortable by… _teaching_ him those things?" Ino asked, genuinely curious.

Kankurou snorted. "Look, he's twenty-nine years old. Supposedly, this is a normal guy thing, but the mere fact that we're here talking about it as if I just handed a minor a dirty magazine is crazy. He's facing people who're forcing him to get married and _have kids_." The man was starting to get uncomfortable himself, perhaps it was because he was talking about this with a girl. "Let's just try looking at it this way: can you see Gaara being… _sexually prepared_ for this?"

Ino raised her eyebrow. Was this how men in the Sand view these kinds of things? "Before we move on to the _'sexually prepared' _thing, shouldn't we be worrying if he's _emotionally prepared_ enough to enter a relationship at all?"

"Ah, of course you women always have to come from the _emotional_ approach with things," he said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm thinking with what's between my ears and not my legs. Enlighten me, then. How do you see Gaara's case?" She'd _love _to hear this.

Kankurou hesitated for a moment, looked over his shoulder as if scared to find someone listening to their conversation. When he saw it was safe, he motioned for Ino to follow him into a secluded spot under a tall cactus a few feet away from the now merry square. Ino trailed after him slowly.

Ino threw her shoulders back and watched as the older man shift from one foot to another. Whatever he was going to say to her, it was making him uneasy. She was starting to assume that Kankurou was not about to make lewd jokes or justify his humor.

"Gaara was… a very difficult teenager then," Kankurou started.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "If this is something that you shouldn't be telling me, maybe you _shouldn't _tell me? You sound like you're about to squeal one of Gaara's deepest, darkest secrets."

Kankurou's face suddenly turned a bit pink.

Ino raised her hands in front of her. "I don't want to hear it."

Kankurou gave a start. "Wha-? Are you sure? Because I actually talked about this with Temari, and she kind of agreed that we should just let you in on it… since… well… you _are_ the _'fiancée'_…"

She found out that she didn't trust Kankurou the tiniest bit. "Then why isn't Temari here to tell me instead. You know I'd believe her better than I'd believe you."

"You can be rude if you want to, eh?" Kankurou snapped, but started talking anyway. "Temari was uncomfortable of the thought of telling you herself. She said it would be better if_ I_ tell you about it. It's about Gaara's teen years…"

Ino shrugged nonchalantly and pretended that talks about Gaara's teenage days and puberty did not bother her at all. "If this is going to raise the success rate of this mission, lay it on me, then."

Kankurou swallowed hard. And this was supposedly the man who had taught Gaara to talk dirty. It looked like he was more worried of being the one to tell her about it, whatever it was.

"Should we sit down?" Ino offered jokingly as she gestured back to the table where their abandoned tea cups were.

Kankurou shot her an evil look before saying, "You're well aware about Gaara's history, about him being the vessel for the tailed beast, so I guess we're already half-way through the conversation."

Ino was taken aback. She hadn't been expecting Kankurou to suddenly bring up that part of Gaara's past. It had been something their batch had avoided talking about, if possible, in passing conversation, out of respect for Naruto and Gaara's friendship, as well as the Sand and the Leaf's alliance. This did not mean, however, that they were ignorant of it.

"Shukaku was a cunning monster, you know. And… well… it was… always _hungry._ For blood." Kankurou was scratching his eyebrow now, making sure his hands were doing something. He was easy to read. The uneasiness was rubbing in on Ino quickly. "When Gaara was a child, or at least as well as I could remember back then – were still very young – he had always been feared by the kids his age."

"That's… understandable, I guess." She could only remember Naruto's childhood vaguely at the back of her mind. She knew that Gaara hadn't been as lucky at controlling his own tailed beast. She had learned that Shukaku had been more than eager to make his presence known to anyone around Gaara then.

"He wanted friends as much as the next kid, you know. But yeah… he _couldn't_ make friends. And you know how kids are when they don't get what they want, right?" The man smiled weakly. "Gaara had always been unstable then. And Shukaku had been the monstrous representation of any raw emotion Gaara felt. Pain, sadness, everything. So when Gaara threw a tantrum, Shukaku was _there_. It scared the hell out of Temari and me back then. Heck, I was six years old then! And then you see your little brother flinging sand everywhere… " He shook his head. "Well, he eventually grew out of it. But then, it didn't get any better after that."

Ino took a shaky breath. "Wh-what happened?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"Puberty did." Kankurou shuddered.

Ino closed her eyes painfully, already knowing where this was going.

"If a child gets satisfied with toys and a bit of attention, well, a teenager is different. I guess as he grew up, he decided he didn't want any friends and became who he was like when we first came to the Leaf for the Chuunin exams." He laughed weakly. "Our father trying but failing to kill him six freaking times didn't help, that's for sure. By then Gaara was already a Genin, and so Shukaku's bloodlust was almost always satisfied with an assassination mission and the like. It had been good for Gaara to fall under supervision. Baki, you remember him from yesterday? He had been our squad leader."

It was starting to frighten Ino now. She knew what he was trying to say. And she did not know if she should stop him from telling him any more. Bile was rising at the back of her throat as Kankurou continued.

"Gaara and I were never really that close – I was scared of him, honestly – but there was this one time, when we were out on a mission together, when he asked me… things a normal teen at that age would. We were camping out for the night. It was one of those rare times he had fallen asleep for about ten or so minutes. He had woken up from a nightmare, screaming. Or _laughing_. I don't really remember. I nearly wet my pants then, thinking he'd gone out of control again. But he just looked at me with those dead eyes of his and he… well… he just… you know… " He gestured at her hopelessly. Ino nodded to encourage him. He shrugged. "It was a wet dream. I asked him if he was all right, and he said he dreamt of killing and blood and that he could hear 'mother' in his head. And that he felt… _very good._"

"Mother?" Ino asked.

Kankurou shook his head. "I'm not really sure but he had always confused the voice of the tailed beast for our mother… " He cleared his throat. "To make the long story short, I guess Gaara, during that phase, had correlated that… _sexual pleasure _with the satisfaction the monster got from blood."

Ino was staring at Kankurou, feeling sick to her stomach. "You… you're not making that up, are you?"

Kankurou nearly blanched at her. "You think that was tough? When Gaara lost the tailed beast was the most difficult of all! You think it was easy for me to explain to a sixteen-year-old that masturbating is normal? You think it was fun for me?"

For some weird reason, the conversation just took a turn for the worst. "What? Why did you have to teach him that?"

"Because he was asking me about it, dammit!" Kankurou said wildly, then covered his eyes with a hand. "He didn't like it. It… _frightened _him. One night, several days after he was brought back to the village, you know, when Naruto and Chiyo-obaa brought him back to life? He was screaming in his sleep again. Yeah, he was bed-ridden for a few weeks, and we had to use drugs just to make him sleep. Temari and I ran to his room half asleep to see what was wrong. With the way he was screaming, you'd have thought he was being attacked. Of course, we found him sitting on his bed. I walked in first, and when I saw what was up, I slammed the door in Temari's face and didn't let her in." He kept his hand clamped on his eyes. "He was scared of his own… yeah… it was just a normal... You don't mind me using 'dirty words', do you?"

Ino wrinkled her nose. "I'm a medic nin. I can say more dirty words than you could in your lifetime."

Kankurou seemed to find the humor in that. He dropped the hand and stared at her nakedly. "He had his first erection without the beast in him, okay? And it scared the hell out of him. And I mean _scared _scared. You ever heard Gaara raise his voice? You ever heard him scream? Trust me, it wasn't pleasant. I had to teach him how to… 'get rid of it'. It was a painful process for the both of us. He was shaking like silly while he relieved himself, and cried when he was done. I didn't know what else to do."

And the both of them were silent. Kankurou was now watching her with those sharp eyes of his, as if searching for a bit of disgust on the subject they had been talking about. Here, she had been wondering what it was that Gaara had been running away from. Right now, she had learned that what she thought of the Kazekage-sama had been but the tip of the iceberg, that Gaara was not just afraid of commitment with a woman, but he was afraid of one of the fundamentals that came along with it.

Smiling sadly, Ino stepped forward, reached up and around Kankurou's neck, and gave him a tight embrace. "You, Kankurou, have been a great big brother to him. You're amazing."

Kankurou had stiffened in her arms. "Wha-? Get… get off me! I didn't do nothing… " He pried Ino away from him, but Ino could see the small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

Ino squeezed his hand quickly before stepping back and looking up at him. "Thank you for telling me."

"Telling you what?" came a voice from behind her.

Ino practically jumped out of her skin. Whirling around, she found herself a few inches from bumping her nose on Gaara's chest. Again. She backed away from him. "Nothing."

_No, Gaara. We weren't talking about how Kankurou had taught you how to masturbate when you were sixteen. Nope. Not that. Why would we want to talk about _that?

She laughed nervously.

Gaara looked down at her blankly, then at Kankurou. "The delegates are on their way. Where is Temari?"

Kankurou had composed himself quicker than Ino had. He jerked his head to the square, where they could see Temari wearing her formal black kimono emerging from the back of the live band, which was now playing some weird music with their lyres and drums. "She was making the final preparations. Is there anything you needed? Seventeen ladies to check you out tonight. I hope you're wearing deodorant."

Gaara did not laugh. He didn't even blink. He turned to Ino. "I'm sorry for all this."

Ino shook her head quickly. "It's all right, really. I mean, how bad could it be, right?" She laughed loudly.

* * *

It was bad. _Definitely bad_.

Ino watched in resigned horror as another one of the seventeen women approach her and look her up and down. Gaara had been swept away by the delegates – again – to the beverage table, leaving Ino vulnerable for another round of bitch slaps from their daughters.

Gaara hadn't been gone but a few seconds when one of said daughters had walked up on her, fuming.

"It took us two whole days to get here, only to find the Kazekage-sama with some _blonde _who claims she is his fiancée," the woman hissed. She was a foot taller than Ino, and she was using every advantage she had to intimidate her.

Ino of course was not intimidated. But she was _tired_. The women were tiring, all of them fighting over each other with their eyes on who Gaara would like best.

_When Sakura and I were fighting over Sasuke, were we this pathetic? _

She thought for a moment, then shook herself. Yeah. She and Sakura must have looked this pathetic…

She stood her ground. _Again_. And launched into diplomatic explanation mode. _Again._ "Gaara and I are really very sorry for the misunderstanding. We've hardly seen each other over the past year. Both of us have been very busy with our own village's affairs. He already tried to tell the council about it." She smiled sincerely. "But I guess I don't blame them for not believing us. Gaara was never very vocal about the relationship, you know."

"No, I _don't_ know," the woman snapped, and she shifted to the side, just enough for Ino to catch the small throwing knives she had hidden under those thin robes of hers.

Ino cocked an eyebrow up. So all of them had come equipped. One woman had bragged about her senbon. Another had flapped at her a sharp fan made of blades. Several of them had shuriken hidden under their belts. Women carrying weapons were not new to Ino. Most delegates and representatives were required to have at least something up her sleeve if ever anything happened. She was a bit surprised, though, to have them actually flaunting those weapons to her as if daring her to show hers.

Which was one of her bigger mistakes tonight. She didn't even have a single kunai with her.

Not that she needed one.

"I have my eye on you," the woman hissed, and in a whirl of flailing skirts she had left Ino gawking after her retreating back.

"Oh, I'm so scared," Ino muttered under her breath and rearranged her face into a worthy enough smile. That had been candidate number fourteen. Three women hadn't come over to make her feel their wrath. She scouted around the square, looking for them just get to things over with. She spotted one of them near the buffet table, holding her plate timidly in front of her and looking down at the food but never picking up anything.

Ino studied the woman curiously. She was about a head smaller than Ino herself, with copper-colored hair tied back into a very disheveled bun at the left side of her head. She was pacing around the table, as if deep in thought.

Straightening down her skirt, Ino decided to at least make her way to the lady, introduce herself, let her say her peace, then move on.

"Hello there," Ino greeted as she stopped right behind the woman.

The woman jumped a foot from the ground, squealed and dropped her plate on the table noisily. She whirled around, her huge blue eyes wide as they landed on Ino's face. "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry! You startled me! I, oh dear – " She laughed shrilly and collected her plate from the table again, then held it in front of her like a shield.

Ino smiled uncertainly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought of coming over and introducing myself. My name's – "

The girl brightened. "Yamanaka Ino, of the Leaf, yes?" She took a step back, then as if realizing that she was being rude, stepped forward again and extended her hand out to her shakily. "I know who you are. The Kazekage-sama's fiancée, yes? My name is Masami, from the desert colony Pippu. That's south west of here. Far, far south west."

Ino shook her hand softly. "It's nice to meet you." She was surprised to find someone who was actually nice among the daughters of the delegates. It could be that this Masami was dragged by her father against her will for a chance at getting chosen by the Kazekage. It did not occur to Ino that some of the women that had come here didn't want to get married to begin with. Masami looked like she was barely twenty years old.

Masami looked over to the table, and that worried look crossed her face again.

Ino followed her gaze. "Is something wrong with the food? You don't like them?"

Masami jumped for the second time, and she hurriedly shook her head. "N-no! It's not that! I'm sure they all taste great. It's just that… " she bit her lip before turning to Ino again. "I'm allergic."

Ino waited a moment before Masami continued. When she didn't, Ino asked, "Allergic to what?"

Masami ducked her head. "To a number of things, really. Tree nuts, peanuts, sesame… uhm, soy and wheat… I think I may be allergic to milk… or maybe I'm just lactose intolerant? I'm not really sure… "

Ino looked down at the table, then pointed at a plate of fruit. "Well, I'm not that familiar with the food they serve in the Wind country, but maybe you should stay on the safe side and stick to fruits and food that you know by glance."

Masami's mood lightened evidently, nodding. "You are right. I should just pick the food that I know won't do me any harm…" and she started picking a variety of the dishes, piling them on her plate.

Ino stared at her in disbelief. Oh, she knew these kind of people. These were the kind of people who knew what they wanted, and knew what was good for them, but needed someone else's opinion just to make a decision. She was probably here not because she wanted to get married, but because her father told her to do so. Deciding that although Masami looked like a difficult person to be with, she was better than the other girls who would slit her throat if she gave them the chance. Ino picked a plate herself, and spooned a few raw cherry tomatoes on her plate.

"So," Masami said as she brought a piece of plum to her mouth. "Uh, congratulations on the engagement, Yamanaka-san. We left Pippu a day ago, and so we just found out that Gaara-sama does not need to choose from us, because he is already in love with someone else." She smiled at her shyly. "I'm really sorry about this. My father doesn't believe your engagement, but I do. I think you two make a lovely couple."

Ino nearly dropped her plate. The last thing she was expecting was to get a congratulations. And… _a lovely couple?_ She did not have to pretend to blush. "That's so nice of you to say. Not many people here want to acknowledge that fact, though. It means a lot to me."

Masami took a step forward, then in a small voice, asked, "Doesn't he scare you at all?"

Ino blinked down at the girl, and the two of them let their gaze wander to where Gaara was standing stiffly in front of three delegates who were talking animatedly about something that did not interest him at all. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his face grim and eyes staring straight ahead.

Ino shrugged. "He's not scary, is he? Look at him."

Masami swallowed heavily. "But… he's so serious. And he looks mean."

Ino nearly laughed out loud. They were talking about the Gaara who sticks his nose in cans and jars of herbs. "I think he's kinda cute," she said without thinking.

Masami suddenly squealed happily. "Oh! You two must be really in love with each other!"

Ino winced as she eyed the smaller girl. "W-well, we _are_ engaged… "

Masami shook her head. "No! No! It's the way you look at him. Like… I can't quite put my finger on it… Like as if you want to protect him from something… "

Ino blinked again, then couldn't help but give the girl a rueful grin. Well, so _maybe_ she was sort of trying to protect the man… maybe just a little. From getting exploited by Kankurou and such… "You would always want to protect the one you love, right?" She turned back to Gaara just when he was also turning towards her. Their eyes met from across the square and he raised his hand to acknowledge her. Then, he leaned over to the delegates who were still talking in front of him, as if to excuse himself, and started walking towards Ino.

Masami was dancing from foot to foot now, and she lowered her plate to the table. "Oh, dear! He's coming over! He's coming over! What should I do, Yamanaka-san? Should I leave you alone? Or would he think I'm being rude if I leave when I know he's coming over?"

"Stay. And relax. It's just Gaara." Ino left her plate on the table next to Masami's.

Masami did not look convinced, but nodded anyway, because Ino had decided for her to stay. "Well… all right… but… "

Gaara finally made it Ino's side, and much to her surprise, the Kazekage's arm was around her waist naturally, as if he had done it many times before, resting a hand lightly on her hip. So maybe Kankurou could be good a something sometimes. Gaara leaned his head closer to her ear. "I'm tired. They talk, and talk about camels and plum and trade."

Ino grinned up at him. This time, Ino knew Gaara was not acting. It was strange to hear him complain. "Well, what else is there to talk about?"

Gaara frowned. "They talk about their daughters as if they're selling cattle. And some of the women have been making advances. One ambushed me by the beverage counter. She tried to slip something in my drink." He really looked very disturbed.

Ino in turn wrapped an arm around Gaara's waist. "You should stay by me, then. I'll protect you from the bad ladies." She tried to stop herself from laughing. The look on Gaara's face was just too funny.

He nodded, believing her. He finally turned to Masami. "You. The daughter of the delegate from Pippu?"

Masami was petrified in her place when Gaara's eyes landed on her. She nodded stiffly, then as if remembering her manners, awkwardly bowed her head. "Masami, sir. I-I… Er… congratulations on your engagement."

Gaara stared down at the woman in surprise, then turned to Ino silently, as if saying, _'she isn't trying to come on to me!'_

Ino gave him a meaningful look back. "We were just talking about you."

"About me?"

"Yeah, that you look kinda cute." Ino raised her eyebrows at him. "You already knew these women will be selling themselves to you. Why are you acting so surprised?"

Gaara did not answer, but instead tightened his arm around Ino, and pressed his lips on her temple lightly, sending Ino reeling.

Masami squeaked, then ducked her head. "Oh… I… just remembered… I'm thirsty. So thirsty! I think I am in need of a drink!" She hurriedly picked her plate up, then with a polite, knowing smile at Ino and Gaara, she scuttled away towards the beverage counter.

Ino turned to Gaara, whose lips were still on her temple. "What's wrong?"

Gaara sighed dejectedly, his breath warm against Ino's skin. "I was wondering how you were. They didn't try to… do anything to you?"

Ino shrugged, tightening her half-embrace around Gaara's waist. From an outside perspective, people would see a couple in an intimate conversation. Ino could practically feel the sharp looks that most definitely belonged to the daughters lurking somewhere around them. They had been following Gaara around all night.

"Well, they made sure I _know _they are capable of doing something to me. I was expecting as much." She turned to the table and gestured at the food. "Have you eaten? Maybe you should – "

"I'm not hungry," Gaara said stiffly, and he turned towards the delegates who were gathered at the other end of the square. All of them were whispering with each other as they looked over to them. "They've been here for merely three hours, but I'm already tired of them. They'll be here for a month… "

Ino used her free hand to turn his face back towards hers. She was surprised at the little resistance as she pressed her hand on his cheek and made him look down at her. Those green eyes of his betrayed nothing but frustration. "Listen. In the span of those three hours, fourteen women have bared their fangs at me, staking their claim on you. Masami was the fifteenth, but I think she's already given up. There are two others who I haven't seen, but chances are, they could either be like Masami, who's accepted the fact that we're all lovey-dovey, or they could be planning something that would take us by surprise." Using her thumb, she rubbed his cheek in sympathy. "Stay focused."

And that was when the strangest thing happened. Gaara had closed his eyes, nodded, and leaned his cheek in her hand. Ino found herself freezing in her place at the sight of that face. The weary expression he had been wearing since yesterday was gone at that moment, and he was breathing against her palm silently. It was like walking in on a private moment, and it sort of embarrassed her.

The moment ended when he opened his eyes again, and he looked down at her.

Ino nodded at him and let her hand drop to her side, feeling her face heating up a bit, not even sure why she was blushing. She covered her embarrassment with a laugh and slapped his chest playfully. "I'm not scared of those girls, so you don't have to worry about me. They should know better than to steal someone else's man."

Gaara looked down at the spot on his chest where she had slapped him, then said, "I am yours." It was a statement, not a question, and he said it as if to try to convince himself to get into the character. He nodded. "And you are mine."

"Ah…" Ino said suddenly feeling heat rise to her face once more. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm yours." She fanned herself with her free hand. "Whew, it's warm… I think I need a drink… "

Gaara was instantly alert. "I'll get you something cold, then. What would you like? Wine?"

Ino shook her head. "I think I should avoid alcohol tonight. Kankurou thought so, too. Do you want to go together? You know, to keep the women off you?"

Gaara shook his head and removed the arm he had around her waist. "I think it's the man's job to bring the lady her drink."

"And Kankurou taught you that?" Ino asked dryly.

"Yes," Gaara said. "I won't be long." He went over to the beverage counter.

Ino watched as Masami saw Gaara approaching and she jumped before arranging her dress self-consciously. Ino watched as Gaara stopped in front of the girl and nod at her politely. Masami backed away shyly and said something to him. She opened her mouth to say something else but immediately closed it when a tall, willowy woman in a thin, green dress sauntered over to where Gaara and Masami were.

Ino's back straightened involuntarily. _That girl… _

It was one of the final two Ino still hadn't seen that night. She was a few inches shorter than Gaara was, with raven-black hair cascading down her back like a glossy cape, her bangs swept to the left side of her face. She had a certain swagger to her walk, and pheromones were practically oozing out of her pores. At the sight of her, Masami grabbed her plate again, bowed to Gaara and disappeared into the crowd of dancing people behind them.

Ino's eyebrows rose as she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting patiently. She wanted to see what Gaara was going to do about this one, and if she saw he could not handle it by himself, she could always come to the rescue.

It seemed that Gaara did not even realize the woman had walked up to him. He had his back to the crowd and was busy with choosing a clean cup left on the counter. The girl stood right next to him, pretending to be busy herself, waiting for Gaara to notice her. She looked like the girl who was _always _noticed by men. After a minute, she flipped her hair, obviously annoyed that Gaara still did not look up at her. Abandoning female pride, she turned to Gaara and tapped his shoulder lightly. That was when Gaara finally looked up, stared at the place where she had tapped him, then finally at her face.

Ino couldn't help but smile as Gaara stood rod-straight, a cup in hand. The woman smiled sultrily as she touched Gaara's forearm with her fingers. Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly. The woman said something, then took the cup Gaara had in his hand. Raising it as if toasting for something, she brought the cup to her lips, licked the mouth of the cup, then downed whatever was in it in one gulp. Gaara said something to the woman, and she laughed gaily. Ino doubted Gaara had cracked joke, but the woman replaced the cup she had stolen from Gaara and picked up a new one, filling it up with what Ino thought to be tea. She leaned over close – very close – to Gaara's ear and whispered something. Gaara merely stood there. The woman handed him the cup she had filled herself, then picked up her own cup. She clinked their cups gently together. Gaara stared at her for one full minute before he turned on his heel and made his way through the crowd.

"Wait! Stay and drink – !" Ino could hear the woman scream at Gaara in horror. She looked like she was going to run after him, but immediately stopped herself when she realized she had just screamed out to the Kazekage.

Gaara let out a sigh of relief when he finally got back to Ino's side, looking terribly hassled.

Ino quickly rubbed his back and let her arm slide around his waist again, using that opportunity to let that girl have an eyeful of her and Gaara with their arms around each other. "You handled that pretty well."

Gaara shook his head. "She was a scary woman."

"I can imagine the trauma," Ino said and nodded gratefully when Gaara handed her the cup he had brought along with him. "Well, I did offer to accompany you there."

"I should have listened to you," Gaara said sadly, and he tightened his half-embrace around Ino when he saw the woman still looking at them in disbelief.

Ino shook her head then took a huge gulp of her tea, covering an amused laugh that threatened to bubble out of her. She did not want to embarrass Gaara. It looked like he was having a hard time as it was already.

"Well, that leaves one more candidate for me to see," she said to Gaara as he rubbed his nose with the back of his free hand. "And so far, she's the prettiest one. What did you think of her?"

Gaara shivered evidently. "She was… scary. She spoke of things that I don't think a woman should be saying out loud."

Ino had to laugh, and she took one more swig of her tea before putting the cup down on the table beside her plate, then fanned her face again. "Don't worry. Just stick with me for the rest of the night and you'll be fine."

Gaara nodded, believing her as he rested his chin on top of her head, shoulders relaxing.

Ino did not know if it was just the weather that night, or the fact that Gaara's side was flush against hers that was making her warm. She wiped a bit of sweat that had popped up on her forehead, brushing back the bangs she had hanging at the side of her face and tucking it behind her ear. She inhaled through her nose and her breath caught when she felt the vague cinnamon smell mixed with Gaara's natural scent she remembered from yesterday when Gaara lent her his robe. She swallowed hard and felt her own free hand reach up to her collar and tugged at it irritably. Why was it so hot?

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked, not moving his head from on top of hers. She could feel his voice rumble against his chest, and Ino watched his jugular bob up and down his slender neck, and she looked away instantly.

"I'm fine. But, is it just me, or is it hot tonight?"

"Tonight is relatively cold, though," Gaara said, and Ino was once again mesmerized by the way his Adam's apple moved.

She giggled. _Giggled? _"Ah, then it's just me…" She reached up and traced lazy circles at the side of his neck.

Gaara stiffened against her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Ino swallowed hard, and she hurriedly snapped her hand back, wiping again at her brow. What was wrong with her? "I have no idea. Sorry. I guess I'm just… " _So very, very hot…!_

The hand Ino had on Gaara's waist suddenly had a mind of its own and she felt it move lower, lower...

Ino grabbed Gaara's ass. _What is going on here? _

Gaara let out a strangled gasp as he jumped an inch away from her, his startled eyes searching her face. "What – ?"

Ino giggled as she pressed herself against Gaara's front, her other hand grabbing his other butt cheek. She squeezed hard. "I'm sorry… " she said, feeling faint from the heat radiating from everywhere and nowhere. "I'm… God… "

It was like watching from a third person perspective, as if someone had used her own jutsu on her, and she was watching her make a fool of herself.

_Let go of his ass, Ino! _She thought to herself as her body leaned into a very confused and slightly frightened Gaara. He was at a loss, knowing that he can't simply push his fiancée away. No, that would prove to be very suspicious…

Ino breathed hard against Gaara's neck, fighting herself from licking that bobbing jugular as he swallowed repeatedly. Gaara's hands were on her face.

"You have a temperature," Gaara said flatly, his own face nearly ready to burst into flames.

"I'm… so… very… _hot_…!" Ino purred as one of her hands let go of Gaara and was now trying desperately to tear at the buttons on her top.

Some of the delegates had gathered a few feet away, openly gaping at them as Ino tried to climb on top of Gaara's lap, which was virtually impossible because Gaara was standing up. The daughters of those delegates had started shouting in pure disgust and indignation. They were torn between watching the scene, and running away.

Gaara's hands were fast, and he grabbed her wrist before she started stripping in front of the audience that had formed around them. His eyes landed on the cup Ino had abandoned on the table, then he scanned the crowd angrily.

Ino grabbed Gaara's face on either side and pressed a sloppy kiss on his chin. It was the only thing she could reach of him, as he was just too tall. But Gaara was not about to be interrupted. With the strength Ino had forgotten he had, Gaara tore the hands on his face, pinned both her wrists together with one of his hands, then swung her over his shoulder effortlessly.

Ino gasped at the shock as her stomach landed on Gaara's hard shoulder, her legs dangling over his back. She panted as the heat started to throb all over her body, and she squirmed against Gaara, her hands trying to free themselves so she could tear at Gaara's clothes. Her fingers clutched a handful of the front of Gaara's shirt.

Gaara's other hand stretched out in front of him, summoning the sand he had in his gourd that was left in his office. The sand swarmed through the window and snaked around his arm, hand and fingers. When he finally found what he was looking for in the crowd, his sand shot out like a missile, and a scream erupted from the crowd.

Ino looked up to see the raven-haired girl in the thin green dress sitting on the ground of the square, her hands bound behind her by cuffs roughly made by swirling sand around her wrists. The crowd immediately broke away from her, and everyone fell silent.

"Let me go, this instant!" the woman cried as she tried to free herself from Gaara's sand. "How dare you treat a guest like this, Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "It is _because_ you are a guest that I am showing you mercy. For slipping an unknown drug into the drink of the woman who is favored by the Kazekage, I would normally have you _killed_. Take your things, collect your father and leave the Sand immediately, before I change my mind."

And out of nowhere, two shinobi wearing the definitive Suna flak jacket appeared on either side of the woman. She did not go happily and was protesting all the way. Another pair of shinobi was escorting a man who was probably the woman's father.

The crowd broke into hushed whispers as the two disappeared from the square.

"That's the first time in years I've seen the Kazekage-sama lose his temper…"

"He's scary…"

"The woman deserved it…"

Ino's breathing hitched and she cried out when Gaara shifted his hold on her, still with her wrists pinned together with that one hand. She turned to the side, and she buried her nose into Gaara's hair, red strands entering her mouth as she murmured apologies to him.

"Gaara… Gaara… I don't know what's wrong… but… I just… want you so bad right now…!" Ino nearly blanched when she heard herself speak. Why couldn't the drug be something that could at least make her forget what the heck she was doing? She was making a complete fool of herself! Gaara was going to kill her!

Gaara pushed her face out of his hair gently, his face as deadpanned as always. He turned to the crowd again. Ino saw Kankurou, stiff as a board as he watched everything unfold before him. Temari was livid.

"I am very sorry to say that I have to retire early for the night. As you can see my fiancée requires my… _services…_ at the moment and I cannot turn her down."

"Gaara…!" Ino cried as she nuzzled the side of his head with her nose.

Gaara frowned at the crowd. "My siblings shall take care of everything for you if you need anything. None of you shall step out of the Kazekage tower without an escort, and your belongings will be checked for any more objects that may bring harm to me or to my betrothed. Those who do not agree to be searched will be requested to leave the village immediately." His eyes met with Temari and Kankurou, and the two older siblings nodded silently.

"That is all. Now if you will excuse us," Gaara drawled as he turned around and pulled Ino from his shoulder, and she fell into his arms.

Her arms flew around his neck and she was kissing the side of his neck.

Ino, at that moment, wanted to just die. And the fact that Gaara didn't even try to push her away when she started sucking his skin hard was making it worse.

Of course, a part of her was happy when they finally made it to Gaara's bare house, and he gently laid her down on the sofa writhing and tearing at her clothes. Gaara had to summon a bit of sand from the garden to bind her hands on the wall behind her to keep her from undressing herself in front of him.

Ino panted against the backrest of the sofa as she looked up at Gaara, who was kneeling in front of her and examining her face worriedly.

"Does it hurt?" he finally asked, making sure to keep a bit of distance from her.

Ino shook her head, trying hard to reign in the effects of the mysterious drug she had taken in carelessly. "It _burns_. It burns so bad… In a _bad _way…"

"Was it some sort of poison?"

Ino shook her head again, annoyed that her hands were bound by sand against the wall when Gaara was standing so close enough to reach. "Probably some… some herb... Maybe? Gah… "

Gaara frowned, then said, "I'm sorry for this. That drink must have been meant for me… "

Ino took in a deep breath, the heat pooling in places they should not be, especially when in front of the Kazekage. "I doubt it. That woman didn't care who drank it…" Ino shifted in her seat, crossing, then re-crossing her legs uncomfortably. She felt a drop of sweat seep in the corner of her eye and she winced.

Gaara paused for a moment, then he reached out and wiped her forehead with the palm of his hand. "I'm calling for a medic, then. Maybe they know of some counter – "

"No," Ino said, leaned into his hand desperately. "That's what they probably wanted us to do. It's a trap to make us drop our act… " She pressed her lips to Gaara's palm before he hesitantly pulled it away again.

Gaara looked at a loss for words. It looked like he was trying to think hard on what to do.

Ino smiled at him weakly. "I'll be fine. This was probably just a concoction to boost libido or something." _Only ten times worse. _She clenched her legs together, fighting away the sensation taking over her.

Gaara didn't look like he was convinced. "Is there anything I can do to… relieve you?"

Ino felt her stomach leap to her throat. Her body was screaming; _Yes! Yes! Yes! _

And then the conversation she'd had with Kankurou earlier sounded in her brain like a gong. She eyed Gaara, who was now looking at her expectantly. For someone who Kankurou had claimed to be afraid of… _this_… Ino could not believe he had handled himself like that back then in the square. But her predicament right now was a result of her carelessness, and she couldn't simply possibly ask this man… she couldn't possibly depend on a client for something so… embarrassing…

Ino smiled weakly. "I'm fine, Gaara. Thank you. Just… let me have the couch for tonight. I know you don't like your room, but I don't think I want to be in there tonight."

Gaara looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure there isn't anything – ?"

"Really, I'm fine. It's been a long day. You should go sleep… I mean rest, since you don't sleep." Ino wriggled and used her upper arm to wipe more of the sweat that had once again appeared on her forehead. The heat would pass soon, depending on how strong the drug the woman used on her. What on earth did she use? It had been scentless, tasteless…

_That drug could be a medical breakthrough, _she thought to herself.

Gaara hesitated a bit before he finally nodded, then pushed himself up. "Do you want me to unbind your hands?" he asked, giving her a sideways look.

Ino bit her lip before saying, "For the sake of me not doing anything more embarrassing than this, I'd like to borrow your sand for the night, if that's all right with you."

Gaara did not look too happy with this, but he nodded anyway. Four long strides brought him in front of his bedroom door, which he opened grudgingly. "I'm not comfortable leaving you like this. I don't think it's proper to keep you tied like that."

Ino laughed forcefully. "Trust me, it's better this way. Good night."

Gaara was still looking unconvinced, but he nodded and said, "Good night," and then he close the door behind him.

Ino closed her eyes, feeling hot and sticky in places that were too delicate to mention, and she was annoyed at herself for having let her guard down. But at least now she knew how desperate some of the women could be. She still hadn't seen one of the seventeen – now sixteen – daughters who will be staying the Suna for a month. She should always keep her guard up from now on.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard the bedroom door slam open. A shirtless Gaara, and wearing only those billowy pants he had worn last night, stalked out of the room with a serious look on his face. He made a beeline for Ino, and with a wave of his hand, the sand binding her hands to the wall trickled slowly down the sofa.

"Gaara…!" Ino cried when the man immediately had her wrists pinned down to her side before she could lunge at him. He manhandled her roughly towards the shower like she weighed nothing.

Ino nearly stumbled when Gaara shoved her into the shower room before stepping in with her.

He grabbed her wrists again, his touch sent electric waves up and down her body. She was one big nerve, and she hated herself for it right now.

"Gaara, what are you doing?" she asked helplessly when he used one hand to pin her wrists over her head against the wall behind her. With his other hand, he twisted the knob to the far left for the cold water, then turned the dial of the shower. Freezing water rained down on the both of them like small ice needles, pricking her skin painfully.

Ino let out a loud squeal at the sudden drop of temperature. But after a few seconds, as the water cascaded down her body, drenching her in her clothes, she felt the heat subside a bit. She could not see clearly, what with water dripping down her face, plastering her bangs to her eyes.

Gaara's free hand gently wiped her face of her hair, and he tucked it behind one ear. Ino looked up to see Gaara, drenched hair sticking to his own forehead now the color of dark red wine, his eyes looking down at Ino with a sober look that didn't usually belong to a man who was taking a cold shower in the middle of a freezing night with a sex-driven woman who he was not even interested in.

Ino could hardly breathe through her nose and she concentrated hard on sucking air through her mouth. She did not realize when Gaara had let go of her wrists, but she found herself placing her hands on Gaara's broad shoulders and leaning her forehead on his chest.

"Do you feel better?" Gaara asked over the loud sound of the shower overhead.

Ino nodded faintly. Though she could still feel the desire tugging at the middle of her stomach, with her body temperature down several degrees, it wasn't as hard to tolerate now. "Yes, thank you. I feel much, much better…"

Gaara perched his chin on top of her head once again. "Good."

Ino dug her fingers gently into his shoulders. "It's not helping that you're here and half naked, and that I'm drenched, and we're alone in the shower, though." She laughed.

"You should get into dry clothes and rest. I promise you nothing like this will happen ever again while you're here," Gaara said gruffly, pulling away from her and looking down to meet her gaze.

Ino pushed her hair back and reached behind her to turn the shower off. The silence that followed the absence of sprinkling water was deafening, and Ino smoothed out her skirts, now heavy with water.

Gaara was also pushing his own hair off his face, revealing the mark on his forehead. It was probably the drugs, but Ino found herself touching the mark gingerly with the tip of her first two fingers.

Gaara reached up to clutch that lingering hand, pulling it down and away from him uncomfortably. He slid the door of the shower room open. "Let me get you a towel… "

Ino nodded. "Thanks." And she watched Gaara leave the bathroom, leaving wet footprints on the floor of the living room.

She blinked when Gaara hurriedly came back and peeked into the bathroom.

"Oh, and yes, I want the couch for this night, too," he said.

Ino closed her eyes and curled into a tight ball on the floor of the shower room.

_Whatever._

* * *

**A/N: The only thing I know about Gaara and Shukaku's relationship is that the Ichibi was this blood-thirsty monster who made Gaara crazy. However that relationship affected Gaara when he was between 12 and 16 years old in canon is beyond me, so the part of that in this chapter was all made-up for the plot's sake. Ho ho ho. **

**Please don't get used to these fast updates. I really do write just for fun, and depending on the flow of inspiration. Today, I don't know why but I was just… _in the zone_. I'll probably be able to post the next chapter after I update Protected again. So until then…**

**Leave a review if you like. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Guess what? I lied about not updating this first. XD **

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**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Four**

* * *

One couldn't say the week hadn't been uneventful for Ino. For one, going out to the market to buy their day's supply of vegetables and meat couldn't be done without having to be stabbed with looks of pure disdain from the daughters of the desert colonies of the country of the Wind. What was so weird was that they seem to time their daily walks with their designated shinobi escorts right when it was time for Ino to do her duties as the responsible housewife for the Kazekage. Of course, they weren't simply just _'in the market'_. They were _everywhere_.

They were in the greenhouses when Ino would pay a visit to the resident medic and ask about how their medical herbs were faring after finishing her chores. They were there in the aviary when she would send her daily report to Naruto and a few letters to friends. They were there when she had shopped for curtains and sheets to replace Kankurou's idea of linens. (Of course, she had decided to buy yellow bed sheets and purple pillow covers.) And they were there right outside Gaara's office when she would visit him to deliver his lunch.

Ino sighed tiredly as she sat down on the dining table, feeling like she had aged twenty years. So far, the only places where she could actually relax were Gaara's house, and Gaara's office. Or anywhere where Gaara was, because no one dared get within a twenty feet radius of the man. It must have been because of what happened with the daughter of the delegate who slipped something in Ino's drink a week ago. At least they had the decency to know that if they ever decided to harm Yamanaka Ino, Gaara was not about to let them off easily.

Ino looked over to the kitchen counter where she had washed several onions, cucumbers and lettuce to toss into a salad later when Gaara came home for dinner. For the past days, she had found herself trying really hard in making healthy and tasty dishes for Gaara. A part of her said that it was because she knew the man needed the nourishment he had been depriving his body for the past ten or so years since he became Kazekage. Another part of her did it for the selfish pleasure of watching Gaara eat her dishes like a little kid eating ice cream. He never said much about her cooking, except for the occasional _'it was good' _or _'delicious'_, but every time he liked what he was eating, he would always close his eyes with each spoonful or bite and chew really slowly, as if trying to savor the taste of anything he put in his mouth.

Last night before she had retired into Gaara's room (now free of red silk and stupid candles), the man had called out to her from the couch and asked, "What's for dinner tomorrow night?" When Ino said she hadn't thought about it yet, Gaara had paused a second, then said, "I'd like some chicken stew."

So, right now there was a chicken thawing on the counter, sitting beside already peeled and waiting potatoes and carrots. She wasn't even aware that she had started making dinner too early; Gaara wasn't coming home in another three hours…

That was why she was surprised when she heard someone knock on the door. She hurried to the living room and peeked through one of the windows to see who it was. She blinked in wonder when she saw a boy with ash-blond hair standing in their garden. It was Iwate, the young chuunin who had dropped by Gaara's office a week ago to submit his traffic report. Now that she thought of it, it had already been a week. Iwate must have just gotten back from his mission to the Land of Fire. He had a small trolley sitting next to him, containing two medium-sized boxes of something Ino couldn't see from where she was.

"Yamanaka-san!" Iwate greeted shyly when Ino opened the door for him. "I'm not bothering you right now, am I?"

Ino smiled down at the boy. "No, Iwate-kun. I wasn't doing anything in particular. How was your mission?"

"It was just an escort mission, so there weren't any interesting happenings. Thank you for asking, ma'am. I wasn't even sure you'd remember me," he said and ran a hand through his hair self-consciously, a goofy smile on his face.

Ino brushed his comment away. ""Don't be silly. Gaara spoke really highly of you. I couldn't possibly forget."

Iwate visibly glowed. After a moment, as if remembering what he had come for in the first place, he gestured at the trolley beside him. "The Kazekage-sama asked me to bring this over to you, ma'am."

Ino looked down at the boxes curiously. "What are those?"

"Just some things he asked me to pick up while I was in the Fire country. Some seeds. A few colorful flowering pots," Iwate said as he proudly opened one of the boxes for her to see.

Ino laughed happily and she knelt down to pick up one of the flower pots pained with smiley faces and rainbows and butterflies. "He asked you to lug these all the way back to the Sand?" She plucked a small bag of seeds. "What are these?"

"Cosmos and Tulip seeds, ma'am," Iwate explained. "The Kazekage actually wanted me to get Yellow tulip seeds, but they only had the assorted ones."

Ino couldn't help but raise her eyebrows down at the bag of seeds, musing how Gaara could actually be romantic for having remembered her favorite flowers. _Or is this Kankurou again? _Brushing the thought away, she returned the bag and the pot back inside the box. "How about that other box? What's inside that one?"

Iwate grinned as he hurriedly opened the other box. "These are a few of the cacti Gaara-sama has been cultivating in one of the greenhouses outside the tower. When he asked me to deliver Yamanaka-san's seeds and pots, he asked me to choose several cacti randomly and bring it here. He said you already know what to do with them."

Ino had to shake her head ruefully but laughed anyway. "Yeah, I guess I'd know what to do with those."

"Would you want me to bring them inside?"

"I'd like the cacti inside, but you can just leave the other box here."

Iwate nodded as he heaved the box of cacti into his arms and effortlessly carried it through the door. "Where would you like it?"

Ino gestured at the windows facing the front yard. "Right there. That's right."

Iwate gently placed the box by the wall and then surveyed their living room with his wide grey eyes. "This place is… _bare_… "

Ino shrugged. For the past week she had already prepared her story to the tee. "Gaara was never fond of shopping for his own things. We're been planning to get furniture together when we get married."

Iwate flushed happily, and she remembered Gaara saying that the boy was just too honest for his own good. "I'm very excited for the wedding. I bet you would make beautiful children together."

Ino nearly missed a step. She covered it up with a cough. "Well, since you're here, would you like some tea and pudding?"

Iwate blinked at Ino as if he were seeing her for the first time. "C-can I?"

"Can't you?" Ino asked, thinking that maybe the boy had other errands to run.

He nodded eagerly. "I would love to! Thank you very much, Yamanaka-san!"

"Call me Ino. Yamanaka-san makes me feel like I'm your Ninjutsu teacher or something," she said as she led the way back to the kitchen. She had made some pudding from the extra milk and eggs yesterday, and she was actually glad someone came over to eat it. Gaara didn't seem to be that fond of sweet things.

"I-Ino-san… " Iwate said shyly.

Ino laughed at the boy. "Yeah, that's better. Are you sure you won't get scolded for staying? The last thing I want is to get you in trouble."

Iwate shook his head as he sat down on one of the chairs around the dining table, his eyes wandering curiously around the kitchen like a child. "I just got back from my mission, and I was already relieved by Gaara-sama himself. He said I can have the day off today after I deliver your things." He smiled at her toothily. "He always lets us off easy after long missions away from home."

Ino's eyebrows rose involuntarily as she busied herself with the hot water, setting aside the vegetables and chicken she had already prepared earlier. "Ah, at least he treats his subordinates like human beings. Our Hokage treats _us _like pack animals. Would you like plain green tea? We have hibiscus and chamomile. Gaara loves them."

"I'd love some of the tea Gaara-sama likes." Iwate leaned his elbows on the table as he watched Ino move through the kitchen. "Although I have to admit, it never crossed my mind for Gaara-sama to drink anything that wasn't… uhm… plain tea."

Ino looked up from the tea pot. "Why is that?"

Iwate wrinkled his nose. "I don't know. I guess he's always projected that aura."

"What aura?"

"'_Green tea'_ aura," the boy said seriously.

Ino stared at him for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "I have no idea what that means, but okay."

"No, I mean it! I mean, when you first met Gaara-sama, didn't he seem like that kind of guy?" Iwate waved his hands around himself, as if searching for the right words to say. "It was like he's all bitter tea and… and _liver._"

"Gaara actually likes liver, for your information," Ino said, laughing more at the kid's observation. Once she had turned on the fire for the hot water, she leaned her hip against the counter and turned to the boy. Iwate had brought up an interesting topic. "Actually, the first time I met Gaara, he looked like a blood-thirsty murderer who could crush me with his sand if he really wanted to." This was the truth. The first time she had actually been aware of Gaara was when they had their first chuunin exams. Of course, Iwate didn't have to know _that_.

"So… you were scared of him then?" Iwate asked curiously. It looked like he realized he was asking a personal question because he immediately leaned back in his chair and said, "I'm sorry. It's just that I seldom have this kind of opportunity to find out about Gaara-sama. And it's not just me, really. Everyone in our batch had been curious about him." He ran a hand through his hair again, nervously. "Before he became the Kazekage, he was one of the best teachers in the academy, and there was quite a huge fan base for him among the genin. I was one of the lucky ones who were in Team Gaara. He was this cool, good-looking jounin who talked to only a few people. Aside from, of course, Temari-sensei and Kankurou-sensei, the only one he really talked to normally was Matsuri-sensei. And everyone _knows_ she had the hots for Gaara-sama when they were young."

Ino's hand froze from measuring the hibiscus with a spoon. She knew that sooner or later, Matsuri's name was going to come up in a conversation about Gaara. And what better source than a very honest Iwate who told everything when excited. She nodded, pretending to know what he was talking about.

Iwate suddenly turned pale. "Oh, god… I forgot I was talking to the fiancée of the Kazekage…! I'm so sorry, Ino-san! I didn't mean to bring up Matsuri-sensei!"

Ino shook her head, quickly. "Oh, don't be stupid. She was his first student, right? Gaara seems to have a soft spot in his heart for the girl. And she seems nice." Ino grinned, and took the chance at saying, "I had actually thought they looked kind of good together."

Iwate wrinkled his nose again. It must be a habit he did when he didn't like something. "Really? We never really thought them even coming close to being a couple. Gaara-sama is too quiet and Matsuri-sensei is just too… I dunno… _fangirly_…"

Ino cocked an eyebrow at the boy.

Iwate put a finger over his own lips. "But don't tell Matsuri-sensei I said so."

The kettle whistled when the hot water was done, and Ino was actually happy for the distraction. She was pouring the hot water into the teapot when she heard someone knock on the door again.

"Wow, who could that be _this_ time?" She looked at the clock. It was only five in the afternoon. It couldn't possibly be Gaara.

Iwate stood up from his chair. "Would you like me to see who it is?"

"Thanks. But if it's a girl who wants to kill me, tell her I'm not home."

Iwate looked absolutely confused, but he nodded anyway. "Okay." He disappeared through the door to the living room. When he came back, Temari and Masami were behind him.

"Good afternoon, Ino-san!" Masami greeted, looking as chipper as ever. For the past week, Ino had somewhat found a friend in the woman from Pippu. She was always escorted by Kankurou or Temari, depending on the time she wanted to see Ino in her house. What was weird with the girl was that she visited at totally random times of the day. But the girl was interesting to be around with, and she had so many stories to tell about her home. Aside from this, she would occasionally let slip some important information about the other daughters from hell. She had considered the woman a good source of information ever since.

Ino looked up from the tea pot when Temari pointed at the chuunin who was blushing furiously as he stared at Masami, looking absolutely star-struck. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Gaara asked him to bring some things, and since he's free the rest of the day, I asked him to stay for some tea. I already have hot water, so we might as well just have tea together, all of us."

Masami clapped her hands together. "I love tea!"

Iwate looked like he had swallowed a melon. He pulled a chair out for the Pippu delegate wordlessly.

"Why thank you," Masami said, tilting her head to the side as she took her seat. "Why haven't I seen you around before?"

Iwate started to turn blue then and there. It looked like he was looking for the right words to say, but none were coming out. Given, Masami was quite an attractive girl, but was this boy that shaken by the opposite sex? Or maybe it was because Temari was there? The blonde older woman was looking at the chuunin disapprovingly.

Ino placed the tea cups in front of everyone and invited Temari and Iwate to sit down. "Iwate just got back from a mission, Masami. And Temari, it was _I _who invited him."

Temari narrowed her eyes at the boy as she took her own seat. "I heard talk going around between your batch. That's not the reason why you're here, are you?"

Iwate looked frightened. "N-no, ma'am! I don't even know anything about these talks! I just got back from a mission, ma'am!"

Ino took out the pudding from the fridge and turned around to look at Temari, smiling.

"Well, there have been a few guys who have little crushes on Ino here. Most of them are harmless, but I hope you know how jealous the Kazekage could get with his fiancée," Temari said, as she took a sip of her tea. This was also in their plan. There had actually been a few of the younger boys who thought Ino to be pretty and tried to talk to her about a lot of things for the past days. Actually, Ino didn't even mind, but Temari was convinced that people trying to get too close would mean trouble in the future, so she was trying to limit Ino's network to a select few by spreading the rumor that Gaara got jealous quickly when it came to Ino's attention.

Iwate ducked his head. "Gaara-sama _was_ a bit possessive when I first met Ino-san."

Temari stared at the boy meanly. "As always, you're a sucker for pretty girls."

"Isn't every boy?" Masami asked no one in particular.

"Gaara isn't," Temari pointed out.

"Good point," Masami said, enlightened. She busied herself with her tea, completely oblivious of Iwate darting looks at her over his own cup.

Ino placed the pudding on the center of the table along with three small plates and spoons. "Eat everything. Don't leave a parcel. Gaara doesn't like sweet things, and I just made this at a whim. Except for you Masami. Allergic, right? Why don't you have some plum? I have a batch of them in the fridge."

Masami politely declined. "I am fine, thank you. I had a heavy snack earlier with the other girls." She brightened immediately. "Which is the reason why I asked Temari to escort me today to see you! Oh, dear! I had almost forgotten the main reason why I am here!" She was starting to get pretty excited, and Masami was near incoherent when flustered.

"You should take a deep breath first," Temari said as she spooned herself a generous amount of Ino's pudding into her mouth. Her eyes widened appreciatively. "Good stuff."

"Yeah?" Ino said happily, glad that at least someone appreciated her desserts.

Temari laughed a bit. "Well, no wonder Gaara's been looking forward coming home every night for the past week. He comes home to _insanely good_ dinners. While he normally wouldn't stop working until every single document is signed, you'd be surprised, because his office is swamped with papers he hasn't even read yet that had accumulated for the past six days."

Ino's curiosity peaked. She did not know Gaara had been looking forward to coming home because of her food. But more than anything, she was a bit worried. He was falling back on his work in the office. Of course, she knew this was something that not be helped because they had already agreed that Gaara was to come home to her every night to avoid suspicion. Fighting herself from asking more about Gaara, she turned to Masami, who was waiting for everyone to finish talking. "I'm sorry, Masami. You were about to say something important?"

By then, Masami was already calm and collected. She nodded eagerly. "I was, I was! Remember our talk yesterday? When you said you still haven't met one of the daughters? After describing to me the other fourteen you've met in the welcoming party – minus me, of course – I found out the one who still hasn't introduced herself to you."

Ino leaned forward in her chair. "You have? What's her name?"

Masami mimicked her in leaning forward. "Her name is Kaia from the desert colony Ainonai. She's twenty-six years old. And she's _scary_."

Iwate looked up from his drink. "Kaia-san? I know her."

Ino and Temari snapped their eyes to the young chuunin. "How on earth would _you_ know her?" Temari asked.

Iwate shrank under Temari's gaze. "She was supervising the kids from Ainonai who wanted to enroll at the academy a year ago. She was here for a week or so for orientation." He nodded at Masami. "And you're right. She _is _scary."

"She's the one carrying that black umbrella everywhere she goes, right?" Temari injected, her pudding forgotten in front of her. "I've seen her around. She's this really pale thing, right? With the auburn hair in a long plait?"

Ino listened silently as she drank her tea.

Iwate turned to Temari. "I was there when she was toured around the academy. She can brandish that umbrella around like a sword."

"I know," Masami said. "At first she says the reason why she has that umbrella with her was because she burns easily, but everyone knows it's her weapon."

"So they're still allowed weapons," Ino mused.

"They're allowed one weapon while they're in the Sand," Temari explained. "When we searcher their belongings, all poisons and exploding objects were confiscated. And believe _me_, we've collected quite a number."

"She seems to be a docile enough woman, that Kaia," Masami continued. "Really polite. She never speaks with us unless we strike a conversation with her. But…" She dropped her voice to a whisper. Everyone leaned in to hear what she had to say. "She seems really into Gaara-sama. It's the way she looks at him when he passes the hallways in the tower. It's like she's _despoiling_ him with her _eyes_."

_Why doesn't that surprise me? _Ino thought to herself. She leaned back on her chair. "And here I thought Gaara had scared most of them away."

Masami nodded her head quickly. "Oh, don't get me wrong. He has. But Kaia-san wasn't scared. She is one of the few remaining who think you and Gaara-sama aren't really lovers."

Temari and Ino's eyes met. It didn't take a genius to know that this Kaia person was going to cause them trouble. It was strange that she still hasn't confronted Ino face-to-face.

Iwate let out a strangled gasp. "Not lovers? Only a blind man could miss the fact that Gaara-sama and Ino-san are madly in love with each other!"

Temari covered her cough with her tea cup.

Ino laughed nervously, shooting the older woman a deadly look.

"They are most definitely crazy for each other!" Masami seconded after more head-bobbing. "I mean, Gaara-sama couldn't keep his _hands_ off Ino-san!"

_That's because we make sure he _keeps_ his hands on me._ Ino's cheek muscle twitched violently.

"Gaara-sama is okay with public display of affection?" Iwate squawked in disbelief.

"You should have seen them at the welcoming party. He was practically _glued _to her side." Masami giggled like a schoolgirl. "He kissed her temple right in front of me. I didn't know what to do so I left them alone and ran off to the beverage counter!"

"Unbelievable," Iwate said, shaking his head.

"Unbelievable, indeed," Temari mused. "I didn't know about this kissing-on-the-temple thing. Do tell, what else did my baby brother do?" She was looking at Ino as if seeing her in a new light.

Ino tried to kick Temari from under the table while keeping her smile plastered on her face. "Now, now. We don't want to talk about those _things_ in front of a minor. Right, Iwate-kun?" She was going to have a long talk with Temari later.

Temari shrugged. "Well, I'm not the only one curious about what happened after the _drug-in-your-tea_ incident." The blonde looked like she was enjoying herself.

"What drug?" Iwate demanded, looking from Masami, to Temari, to Ino. "Did someone try to poison Ino-san?"

Ino gave both Masami and Temari a warning look. None of the girls seemed to notice.

"Yeah. It was the daughter from the desert colony Yiei. Pretty little thing. She slipped something in Ino's drink." Temari decided to give Ino a break, or perhaps it was because she knew that Gaara must have had the most difficult time that night. "But I'm not going into the steamy details in front of you, underling." She smiled at Iwate sweetly.

Iwate was flabbergasted, almost ready to burst with curiosity.

"But seriously," Masami said, suddenly looking concerned. "Do be vigilant about Kaia-san. I'm not a very good judge of character, but the other daughters are also uneasy when it comes to her."

Ino smiled at Masami gently. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

Temari drained her cup and placed it gently on the table. "I'll inform Kaia's shinobi escort as well. We don't want any more trouble with the girls. And Ainonai produces great talent when it comes to weapons and hand-to-hand combat. I don't think we want to severe any more ties just because of this."

Masami pushed her chair back. "Well, I guess that's all I really had to say. I don't want to over-stay, especially when you still have to make dinner for Gaara-sama."

Iwate looked at the chicken on the counter. "Gaara-sama is so lucky…" he moaned as he, too, stood up and stacked his plate and tea cup.

Temari joined them in standing. "Yeah, well now you know you should choose a wife who can cook as well as she can fight."

Iwate grinned. "Yeah." He shot a glance at Masami, who was now busy picking at a bit of lint on her robe. "Masami-chan. Do you cook?"

Masami laughed nervously, still picking at her clothes. "I burn things, if that's what you're asking."

Temari reached out and grabbed the young boy by the ear. "No hitting on the delegate's daughters, fool."

Iwate winced in pain. "Temari-sensei! I'm sorry! That hurts… _Ow!"_

Temari tugged at him to follow. She turned over her shoulder and gave Ino a knowing look. "Thanks for the tea, Ino. Take care when you leave the house." With this, she hauled a protesting Iwate out of the kitchen.

Ino waved at the two. "I'll try. Thanks for delivering the pots and seeds, Iwate-kun."

Iwate laughed weakly and waved back. Temari didn't give him a chance to say anything else.

Masami ran up to Ino and gave her a tight hug, and Ino couldn't help but think how sweet the girl was. "I'll see you again when Temari-san is available to escort me around, okay? I just love visiting you. You're so nice to me." And the girl kissed Ino's cheek before bouncing away after Temari and Iwate.

She hurried after them and said her final goodbyes before they disappeared out the door, Masami giggling, Iwate protesting, and Temari laughing happily at the misfortune of her student.

Ino sighed, rolling in her head the things Masami had said about the Kaia girl as she cleaned up in the kitchen and started with her stew. A girl with an umbrella? For someone who was supposedly always carrying such a conspicuous object around, she wondered why she hadn't seen her before. Could the girl be avoiding her? If she was, what were her reasons? From the way Masami, Iwate and Temari talked about her, she doubted the girl was afraid of her; she was self-evidently capable of holding her own in a fight.

She frowned. She hoped the girl was not giving Gaara a hard time.

After her talk with Kankurou last week before the start of the party, the biggest problem she was worried about was if a daughter had the courage to suddenly come onto Gaara too strongly. She knew that Gaara could take care of himself if ever anything like that happened, but maybe it was just in her blood to worry about people. She had spent her growing days worrying about Chouji and Shikamaru simply because they were _guys_. And here came _another_ guy, who was even more emotionally handicap than her teammates. For the last couple of days she was actually starting to wonder if she was just reading too much into this. If she were to put things in their proper perspective, the only thing she had to worry about was her mission, which was to convince everyone that Gaara was already engaged to her. She was not doing a bad job with it, either.

But she guessed it was just her nature to worry about the people around her. She could not help but find herself wanting to protect the Kazekage. From who or what, she didn't really know. Heck, she didn't even know if Gaara _needed_ protecting. But every time she looked at him when he was not working or not in his office, she would always see this lost, unsure child who so very much wanted guidance and assurance he seemed to lack and no one around him was giving it to him.

Ino poked at the chicken absently as her gaze landed on one of the garden windows and the empty space there. She smiled. Maybe Gaara's cacti collection would be happy sitting by the windows. She would have to ask Gaara about that later when he came home. Brushing thoughts of the Kazekage from her head, she started with cutting the chicken into tiny, bite-sized pieces, not even realizing she had started smiling to herself when her mind wandered to what Temari said earlier.

"_Well, no wonder Gaara's been looking forward coming home every night for the past week. He comes home to insane dinners."_

So, he had been looking forward to coming home. It hadn't really crossed her mind, the possibility that Gaara could actually enjoy her cooking. She had asked him to come home because she knew that was what would make their mission a success. But to find out that he was genuinely happy to come home after work somehow made Ino glad. It was the least she could do to make things easier for the man who's had everything so hard for him since he was born.

She knelt down to grab a big enough pot from under the sink, filled it with water and placed it on top of the fire. A song on her lips, she imagined how Gaara would look as he tasted her stew, how he would close his eyes as he spooned his food into his mouth, and how he would nod his head and say, 'It's good,' and say nothing more. But that would be more than enough.

* * *

By quarter to seven, the stew was boiling happily on the stove, and the kitchen was filled with smells that Ino knew would please Gaara wonderfully. By seven, she had set the table, tossed the salad and readied the kettle for their after-meal tea. Gaara would be home in a minute or so.

By seven-fifteen, Ino was sitting on the couch, ready to give Gaara the usual pat on the shoulder for working really hard that day. By seven thirty she was already looking out the window, wondering why Gaara still wasn't home. Thinking that maybe he was held up at work, she turned the stove off and put the lid over the stew pot. Temari had said his work had accumulated for the past days. Perhaps he was trying to catch up? Accepting the fact that he was going to be late, she covered the salad with a cloth and decided to busy herself with looking at Gaara's cacti collection. He had quite a variety. There were tiny Prickly Pears of different shapes and sizes, and barrel cacti with tiny pink flowers on their heads like little sombreros. While Ino had always appreciated anything green, she hadn't really thought of raising cacti in Konoha. But now that she looked at Gaara's collection, she was starting to wonder why.

_When I go home, I should bring a few back with me. I'm sure Gaara wouldn't mind. _She smiled happily at the thought of starting a trend in Konoha. _If we wrap cute ribbons around the pots, they would be really good gifts._

Out of boredom, or out of something else, Ino found herself setting the cacti on the garden windows overlooking their front yard even when she had thought earlier to consult Gaara before doing so. By the time she was satisfied that everything was in place, she looked at the clock. It was already eight in the evening. Gaara was still not home…

She frowned. She hoped to god the daughters hadn't done something…

The thought left her mind immediately, sure that no one in their right mind would disturb Gaara while he was working. She went back to the kitchen and stared at her stew pot, biting her lower lip as she crossed her arms over her middle as she began to think. Gaara was most likely busy with work, but that did not give him an excuse to miss dinner. She was already convinced that the man had been abusing his body too much ever since he became Kage, and the last thing she wanted was to have other people think that his fiancée didn't care about his health.

Deciding that it would be the duty of the loving wife to bring her husband his dinner, Ino reached for a few plastic containers from the overhead cabinets. She scooped up a generous helping of stew into the biggest container they had. Rice went into another container, and the salad went into another. She stacked them all one on top of the other and used one of her purple scarves to bundle them up. Not forgetting to slip in Gaara's favorite chopsticks, she made sure everything else was in order before she slipped on her engagement ring, threw on her robes and set out into the cold night towards the Kazekage tower.

There were a few shinobi Ino greeted along the way. Some of the younger chuunin would wave at her shyly from across halls as she passed, and she would give them one of her reserved smiles. Some tired to stop and talk to her, and she would politely tell them she was in a hurry, that Gaara still hadn't eaten, and that she had come to deliver his dinner. They would eye the bundle in her arms longingly, joking about wanting to taste her homemade food before bowing at her and going their way.

Ino sighed in relief when she finally made it to the floor of Gaara's office without bumping into (or getting ambushed by) the daughters who were taking residence in the same tower.

Shifting the bundle of food to one arm, she reached up and knocked on Gaara's door twice. She waited a while for Gaara to respond, as he always did when she brought him his lunch. She could only raise her eyebrows when no response came. She knocked again, this time a bit louder. Still no response.

"Gaara?" she called. "I'm coming in, okay?"

Slowly, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

The first things that got her attention were the tall stacks of documents on top of Gaara's desk which was always normally clean and organized. So Temari hadn't been kidding when she said Gaara was falling behind with his work. Stepping in his office and gently closing the door behind her, she tiptoed towards the desk, making sure not to make a sound.

And gasped at what she saw.

Gaara was…

_Gaara was dead._

She had not seen him when she first came in because of the documents, but as she came closer, she saw Gaara's still form, his face pressed against an unrolled scroll over his work table, arms sprawled around his head carelessly, in his right hand his quill still clasped between long, dirty fingers. Her medic instincts kicked in at once. She hurriedly placed the food she had brought at the foot of the desk and was about to grab Gaara's shoulders and scream for help when she heard it.

Gaara was snoring softly.

Ino stared down at the mop of red hair with wide, watery eyes. Was Gaara… _sleeping?_ No. No, that can't be right.

Ino slowly, very, _very _quietly made her way around the desk to his side where his face was turned. Afraid to make a sound and holding her breath like her life depended on it, she crouched down low, peering down at his face that was half-buried in papers.

His eyes were closed into dark circles against his pale face, and a bit of that blood-red hair was fanned against his forehead, exposing that conspicuous red mark. He was breathing through his mouth, which was slightly open, and she could see a bit of teeth peeking from those always tense lips of his. It was strange; he had never looked this animated when he was awake.

Ino knitted her eyebrows in thought, torn between waking him up because he needed to eat, or just letting him be because he needed to rest. Deciding that he would end up getting a sore neck and sore back if she let him stay sleeping on his papers, and that he needed nourishment, she ran a tentative hand over his hair, hoping to wake him up as gently as possible.

The moment her hand touched the very strands of his hair, he catapulted into a sitting position and slammed his back against his chair. The scroll he was sleeping on was conveniently sticking against his right cheek as if it had been glued there. He tore at it quickly with a hand, and his wide-with-surprise, dilated green eyes zoned in on Ino's equally wide blue ones. He was breathing hard, as if he had been running. The hand holding the quill was shaking. The other hand that had torn the scroll off his face was clutching the scroll tightly, angrily, as if it had done something wrong to him.

Ino laughed weakly as she brushed back her bangs away from her face. "Uhm… good morning? Evening?" she said uncertainly.

It took a while before Gaara realized what had just happened there. He stared at the scroll in one hand, the quill in another. Then his eyes swiped over the small towers of documents in front of him. Then at Ino, who was waiting for him to say something.

"What… what time is it?" Gaara croaked, looking absolutely confused as he dropped the quill on his desk and tried – and failed – straightening the crumpled scroll on the straight surface in front of him.

"Ah, well… It's half past eight. You were supposed to be home an hour and a half ago," Ino explained as she finally regained her own composure and scratched her head. "I thought that maybe you were hungry, so I packed your food and brought it over. You wanted chicken stew, right? I even brought you a salad."

Gaara still looked a bit ruffled; it was obvious he wasn't used to falling asleep while working. Or worse, having someone walk in _while _he had fallen asleep while working. He decided that the scroll was a lost cause and he dropped it on the ground. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. You must have been worried."

"Of course I was worried. I was starting to wonder if the daughters had ambushed you on the way home," Ino said as she reached out and tried to wipe away a bit of ink that had started to dry against Gaara's cheek. "You have a bit of… yeah there we go."

Gaara touched the cheek she had wiped with her finger, then he looked down at the ink staining his hands. "I… I fell asleep… "

"Were you asleep long?" Ino asked.

He shook his head. "I don't remember." His hands ghosted over the papers in front of him. "I'm behind my paperwork…"

"You don't say?" Ino watched was Gaara tried to make sense of the mess that was his desk.

After a while of plowing through the papers and getting nowhere, Gaara sat back on his chair, looked up at Ino and said, "I'm hungry."

Ino couldn't help but smile for so many different reasons. One, because it was the first time she'd witnessed Gaara's sleepy face. And two, it was the first time she'd witnessed Gaara looking lost in his own office. It was a good change, really. Every time he'd sit behind his desk, he'd turn into Super Gaara who could finish signing documents and mission requests by the thousand. And here he was, looking absolutely very human and very hungry in his disaster of an office.

"Let's have dinner, then," Ino said, and she started transferring the piles of documents from his desk to the floor. "You don't mind me leaving these here?"

Gaara nodded absently as he helped her clearing his desk. "It doesn't matter. I'll finish them as soon as I clear my head." He chased away a few crumpled pieces of paper into the trash can by his feet.

"Why don't you wipe your hands with one of those wet towels you have inside you fridge while I unpack your dinner," Ino suggested. And like the good boy that he was, Gaara did as he was told.

"Smells good," Gaara murmured as he briskly wiped at his fingers, then deposited the now ink-stained towel on the counter.

"Thanks. The stew's a bit cold. Do you mind?" Ino asked as she flipped open the lids of the containers and lined them up in front of Gaara.

Gaara shook his head and had the container of stew in his left hand, his chopsticks in his right. Ino sat down on the sofa bed and watched as Gaara picked at the things in the stew before slurping it up contentedly. He closed his eyes after every mouthful, and Ino leaned back happily as she watched him eat.

"How was your day?" Ino asked. "You look extra hassled than usual."

Gaara looked up from his salad, stopped in mid-chew, then lowered his chopsticks. He looked like he was looking for the right thing to say. After a moment, he raised his eyes back to her. "A letter of apology came from Yiei."

Ino tilted her head to the side. "From that woman who tried to poison me?"

Gaara nodded. "She claims it was a misunderstanding, though I find that hard to believe. I'm asking one of the council to reply for me, since it was their idea to invite these people to begin with."

Ino laughed. "Good call. I wouldn't know what to say if it were me, to be honest. I mean, how can you diplomatically say, _'Yeah, well I don't forgive you for slipping poison in my drink, bitch,'_ without hurting colony relations?"

The corner of Gaara's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything and instead busied himself with finishing his food. In the meantime, Ino grabbed the book about the History of the Sand from the shelf, returned to the sofa bed and stretched out on it comfortably, hugging one of the yellow pillows to her chest and opening the book to a random page. This was one of the habits she had learned over the week when she waited for Gaara to finish eating his food. She would just lie down with a book she wasn't really interested in and just looked at the pictures in them. Unfortunately for her, she had picked a book that didn't have any pictures. She closed the book, tucked it under the pillow under her head and looked over to Gaara.

She blinked when she discovered he was also looking at her.

"What?" Ino asked.

"Nothing," Gaara said as he set his chopsticks on top of the lid of one of the containers. He stood up from his chair and crouched down in front of the stacks of papers. He picked one up, read through it for a second, then tossed it back down on the pile. "Nothing is making sense to me," he growled.

Ino shifted a bit on the sofa bed. "Why's that?"

Gaara shook his head. "They keep piling up while I'm not here. I've been coming home early for the past week, and they would always pile up while I'm not looking."

Ino chuckled. "You should see Naruto's office. It's fifty times worse than this."

Gaara looked over his shoulder to her. "How does he manage?"

Ino paused, then pushed herself up with an elbow. "He doesn't. But you know what? The world would still continue spinning even if he's doing a bad job with his papers." She reached her hand out to him. "You can keep working, and working and working, but it still wouldn't be enough. Rest for a night. Even for just _tonight_."

Gaara eyed the hand she had outstretched, then he looked down at the pile in front of him. He sighed. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course, I'm right. Look at you. You're practically falling apart. You can't concentrate and you're actually close to throwing a tantrum."

Gaara pushed himself up to a standing position, then ran a hand through his hair. He turned to face her, looking slightly annoyed. "This is one of the reasons why I don't want to get married."

Ino blinked up at him. _One of the reasons?_ "And why is that?"

"Because I'm not good at juggling priorities. I come home to you every night, and my job suffers. And tonight I try to catch up on work, and you were waiting up worrying about me." Gaara's shoulders wilted evidently. "I don't want to compromise either or. But I'm just not good enough to handle neither."

Ino arched an eyebrow at the tall man towering over her, and she leaned her head back on the pillow. Here he was again, trying to over-analyze things that didn't need over-analyzing. "You know what I think?"

Gaara looked at her reproachfully, uncomfortably.

"I think you should come here." She fluffed up the pillow she had pressed against her chest, placed it beside her head. "You should come here, lie down, forget about work for about three seconds and try to get your sanity back. Let's talk."

Gaara's fingers twitched before he quickly crossed it over his chest. Ino had seen him do this many times when trying to project authority. Tonight, he was using those arms as if to protect himself. Interesting. "You… want me to lie down?" he asked softly.

Ino nodded, patting the pillow beside her head. "Right here."

"Beside you?" he asked again.

Ino blinked, paused then sat up once again with her elbow. "You know, I've stopped believing boys don't have cooties when I turned nine," she said jokingly.

Gaara looked confused. "… Coo… ties…?"

Ino swallowed back a laugh. She should have known Gaara wouldn't react well with humor when his nerves were all gnarled up like this. "Forget it. Here. Have your bed." She moved to get up.

"Wait," Gaara suddenly said, those crossed arms reaching out midway as if to stop her. "You… you can stay. Please stay." He looked away hesitantly, his nonexistent eyebrows furrowing as if deep in thought.

Ino fell back sitting on the sofa bed, watching him think. He looked like he was torn between many different things as his eyes darted to the documents on the floor, on the door of his office, on his gourd sitting over by the far wall. Then those eyes landed on Ino herself, and Ino sat up straighter, offering him a small smile.

Gaara swallowed.

Ino patted the corner of the sofa bed invitingly. "Rest. Even for just an hour."

Gaara finally gave in. Two and a half steps brought him to the sofa bed and he lowered himself sitting on it cautiously, his back to Ino. "Just an hour, then."

Ino watched that broad back of his as he breathed in and breathed out. Ino leaned back the side of her head against the wall, eyeing him from the corner of her eye. "Gaara?" she started.

The man looked over his shoulder timidly.

Ino sighed. "You know, you don't have to be the perfect husband if you get married. I guess any woman who agrees to marry you would understand what she'd be getting into. A Kage has many responsibilities, and everyone knows that. Even the daughters of the desert colonies know what they're facing. I doubt anyone you choose as your wife would be unhappy just because of your priorities."

That one-eyed gaze of his was keen on her face, unblinking. After a while, he said, "I know. I know that."

"So… what's the problem?"

"She may be all right with waiting up, or having to understand me when I prioritize work instead of her. She may be fine with everything. But I'm not."

Ino sniffed, reaching up to pluck at her bangs. "Is this a man thing?"

Gaara twisted over to look at her straight in the face_. "A man thing?"_

"You know, when you think that we women aren't capable of being happy in a relationship if the man doesn't _deliver?_ Because I'll have you know that we can handle it." She abandoned her bangs and gave Gaara a toothy grin. "We're not gonna pine away in sorrow if you don't come home on time, or choose work over us once in a while. And in your case, if _I_ were your wife, I would understand that you would pick the village over me on occasion."

Gaara was now really interested, those green eyes of his more alert than they've ever been since Ino had walked in on him sleeping. "You… would understand?"

Ino rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed, snuggling her cheek into Gaara's yellow pillow. "Gaara, seventeen women have bothered to come all this way for a chance to marry you. Trust me, it's not just me. Stop trying to fulfill a fantasy Kankurou's probably drilled in your brain that women are clingy and needy and are hungry for a three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days worth of romance. Not all of us are like that, so I think you should just relax. Now come here." She patted the other pillow invitingly.

Gaara paused for a few seconds before he hitched his knee up on the sofa bed and cautiously crawled up on the space Ino indicated, burying his cheek onto the pillow so deep that the only thing visible of his face was his nose and one of those glassy green eyes of his. He looked uncomfortable, unsure of where to put his arms. In the end he settled with curling them around the pillow his head was on as he let his long legs stretch out across the bed, his sandaled feet dangling over the cushion.

"See, when you're tired, even if you don't feel like sleeping, lying down will do wonders to your body," Ino said as she shifted to her side and turned her head to imitate Gaara, hiding half of her face in her own pillow.

"Are you… _comfortable_ lying down with me like this?" Gaara suddenly asked quietly, his body unmoving.

Ino smiled a small smile. "I don't mind. Do you?"

Gaara thought once more. After a moment, he said, "No." The eyelid of that one eye dropped slightly. "I'd have thought you would mind."

Ino snorted. "I've grown up with male team members all my life. Sleeping in the same tent with boys was normal for me."

"Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji," Gaara murmured.

"I'm surprised you know Chouji." Ino's other teammate hadn't actually had direct communication with anyone from the Sand.

"Hmm," was the only thing Gaara said as his exposed eye closed completely.

Ino closed her own eyes and laughed. "Chouji was twenty three when he got married to a distant cousin in the Akimichi clan. The wedding was great. There was so much food!"

"You must have cried during the wedding," Gaara said under his breath.

Ino nodded to herself, remembering that day. Shikamaru had been happy for his best friend. _She_ had been happy. So happy she had cried buckets. "After the ceremony, Shikamaru left for the field. Some people thought that he just didn't want to get involved with the clean-up after the ceremony. I guess I kind of felt what he was feeling. I found him in the field, cloud-watching. He was just lying on his back, smoking his stupid cigarette. I lied down next to him and he hugged me and we talked about Chouji and his wife, Nana. Then we talked about how things were when we were young." She wrinkled her nose. "He stank like an ashtray. God, I hope he stops smoking."

"Temari says the same thing."

Ino's eyes popped back open. She saw Gaara's expression relaxing relatively. His eyes were still closed. He could have been talking in his sleep. She smiled. "They look good together. _They _should get married."

"It would bring a lot of happiness to the Sand. Intermarriage between Konoha and Suna would strengthen our alliance more," Gaara drawled, then cracked his eye open a fraction. "Tell the Nara that if he ever decides to marry my sister, I fully support it." He closed his eyes again, then sighed.

Ino dug her nose into her pillow. "He'd probably say something stupid, like, _'Marriage is such a drag,' _while blushing, coz he's an idiot that way. Say, do you use some fabric softeners on these sheets? They smell great."

"I put in some dried chamomile in a tea pack. I slipped it inside the pillow case," Gaara explained.

Ino raised her head slightly and gave Gaara a surprised look. "You like Chamomile now?"

Gaara finally opened his eyes and he raised his head from his pillow, too. "It reminds me of our kitchen. It reminds me of home."

_Of… home?_

Ino let her eyelids flutter to a close as she let the fuzzy feeling take over her insides. Gaara had called his house a _home_. She did not know why this little revelation made her happy, but it did. "You should have said so sooner. I'll make chamomile air fresheners for the couch in the living room when I get home tonight."

She could feel Gaara shifting in his place slowly, as if he was looking for a comfortable enough spot. Her eyes snapped open in surprise when she felt the man scoot over to her side of the sofa bed, his arms slipping around her torso, his head invading her pillow just below her chin. She could feel the tip of his nose touching her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

"Gaara?" Ino started, unsure if she should reciprocate the embrace. Her arms were poised a few inches from Gaara's frame.

"Don't go home. Stay," he murmured, his breath tickling her collar bone. "Talking to you… _relaxes _me."

Ino did not know what to say. The arms Gaara had around her middle were not tight, as if he was giving her enough room to pull away if she wanted to. This was actually the first time in the span of a week that they've shared an intimate, almost personal moment when they didn't necessarily need to. They had made sure to walk arm in arm in public, brush each other's hair, whisper in each others' ear as if sharing secrets, just to convince _– to fool_ – everyone that they were really engaged. But none of those took place when they were all alone. It was strange; Ino felt as if Gaara was clinging on to her out of desperation more than anything else.

"Are you all right?" Ino asked as she slowly draped her arms around Gaara's shoulders. The man yielded to her touch.

He nodded, saying, "I'm just so very tired."

_Tired. _Gaara was always tired.

"Work could be a pain," Ino commented.

"No, I mean I'm tired of _everything_." He _did_ sound completely spent. Ino wondered why he was still trying too hard.

"Naruto gave me everything I ever needed to get started, and I tried my best to gain everyone's trust, and I got what I wanted, but it would never be enough. The village demands more from me, things that I can't offer. Have a wife, bear a child. Is the village a good enough reason to sacrifice someone's happiness? I'd always thought that Suna and Konoha, our history has had enough of those. And now that we are at peace, is it still really necessary to think that way?"

Ino was speechless for a moment. Because what Gaara had just told her was an obvious confession of his insecurities that concerned the demands of the village he had been serving for the last fourteen years as Kazekage, and the confusion he was experiencing regarding romantic relationships, marriage and child-bearing. It would have been easier if she'd just reach out with her jutsu to find out what was really going on with his head, and god knew she wanted so much to make everything work out for him. She knew that this man who was clinging on to her like a confused child deserved so, _so_ much better.

"I don't want you to think right now. Just… just _sleep_. Okay?" Ino said, her fingers reaching up to run through his tousled red hair, kneading at his scalp in the hopes of calming him down.

Gaara groaned at the pressure, sounding completely intoxicated with fatigue, and buried his face deeper into her neck. Ino could feel his lips press gently against her skin, that if it weren't for their situation, she would have thought he was kissing her.

"It's fine to think about the happiness of others, and I really think you're a very noble Kage for putting others before yourself. But… well… who's going to think about _your _happiness?" Ino asked gently, her fingers now nimbly playing with his hair.

"No one," Gaara murmured, and Ino couldn't help but feel a tingly sensation where his lips were brushing against her neck.

"Not no one. _You_. _You_ have to think of the things that would make _you_ happy once in a while, you know?"

Gaara was silent for a long moment, breathing steadily. Ino had thought that he had fallen asleep, until his arms tightened around her even more, pressing her against his side as he would a pillow.

"Your cooking," he started. "Makes me happy…"

And Ino could not help but blush.

* * *

**A/N: I wasn't supposed to post this until I've typed my other story's update, but I guess holding onto the chapter even when it's finished would be unfair for those who actually take the time to read and review this story, especially since 'The Arrangement' and 'Protected' have two completely different fan bases. I guess the reason why updates keep popping faster for this story than my SaiSaku one is because I've already had the outline of this written in a notebook days ago while I was waiting for my turn with my Ophthalmologist. XD Anyway, here's the update.**

**Oh, and regarding my last chapter, where I received reviews about M ratings and sex, I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but Yuugiri _cannot _and probably _will not _write smut. It's not because I have anything against it; I'm as horny as the next girl and I enjoy the occasional M-rated fanfic (if the writing is good, that is) once in a while, but I was never really gifted with writing graphically detailed sex scenes because I am confident I would just make a fool of myself if I ever attempt one. I do write about characters' hanky panky, since I'm a sucker for sweet shoujou-type romance, but I always keep it vague. Maybe one day I'll find the courage to actually try challenging myself, but that's a big MAYBE. ^^**

**That said, 'The Arrangement' will maintain it's T-rating.**

**Thank you for those who read, review and favorite this story! **

**Till the next update!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Light streaming through the window behind the Kazekage's desk was what woke Ino up that morning. She opened her eyes groggily and tried to blink away the residue of sleep as she looked over at the bright window in annoyance. Had she forgotten to close the curtains last night? What time was it? _Where the hell was she?_

Her thoughts were interrupted when a warm… _something_… shifted from under her chin. Slowly, Ino pulled her head back and looked down to see what it was.

And bit back a gasp at the sight of none other than the Kazekage himself, curled up against her, his face pressed innocently against the hollow at the base of her neck. It was not the fact that they had actually fallen asleep together in Gaara's office that surprised her; it was the fact that Gaara was _still _asleep that made her wonder. Last night, she had planned to wake Gaara up after an hour of sleep because the man had been stressing about his paperwork. She did not realize she had fallen asleep with him. And it seemed like Gaara didn't realize it as well. She had been half expecting to wake up to him tearing away at the papers on the floor that he had abandoned last night.

_And here he is, sleeping like a babe. _

Through the night, it seemed Gaara's legs had found themselves tangled with hers, his still sandal-clad feet dangling limply over the sofa bed. The arms he had wrapped around her were still there, if not a bit looser, and Ino's own hands had snared themselves in his hair, fingers knotted in his red mess of a head.

Ino leaned her head back on her chamomile-scented pillow, trying to make the littlest of movements. She did not want to wake Gaara, considering a good night's sleep was something he seldom got to have. Looking over Gaara's head, she raised her eyebrows at something she saw lying on the floor. While last night there had been but two piles of papers they had placed by the foot of the desk, Ino found two more stacks haphazardly deposited right by the door of the office, as if someone had sneaked in, and at the sight of Gaara and Ino in a knot on the sofa bed, had carelessly dumped the papers and got the hell out of there as fast as they could.

_"They keep piling up while I'm not here. I've been coming home early for the past week, and they would always pile up while I'm not looking."_

At first Ino thought Gaara had been exaggerating about his job. Now that she had actually seen it happen before her own eyes, she should have known better than to suspect Gaara _capable_ of exaggeration. Last night's documents had doubled over night like magic.

_Or a very bad curse._

Gaara shifted with a small moan, and Ino unconsciously started rubbing the small of his back, as she would a baby when needed cooing. She wondered if it would be a good idea to let him sleep more. She doubted Gaara would be happy when he woke up and find out he had slept for more than an hour last night. And he would most probably be even less happy when he saw his work had multiplied while he _'wasn't looking'_. Deciding that it was better to get him started, she looked over to the clock on the shelf. Seven fifteen. It was still relatively early.

Ino leaned down and gently placed her mouth close to Gaara's ear. "Gaara?"

The man didn't move.

Ino patted his back gently. "Gaara, wake up. It's morning."

Gaara squeezed his closed eyes tight before finally opening them slowly. For the longest time those eyes of his stared back at her, completely disoriented, before he blinked himself to his senses.

Ino smiled down at him. "Good morning."

Gaara's eyes widened at seeing her so close to him, and for a moment he looked absolutely frightened.

"It's okay. It's okay." Ino's arms instantly tightened around him, her hands going back behind his head, and she pressed her forehead against his, her eyes meeting his unsettled ones. He evidently relaxed in her embrace, and his eyes closed, his breath slowing down.

That went better than what Ino had imagined. She rubbed his back gently as she pulled away from him to look down at his face. He looked better after several hours of sleep. He needed more, though. "Good morning," she tried again.

Gaara opened his eyes and looked back at her, face unreadable. "Good morning, Ino." His voice was rough, and he cleared his throat a few times before he was satisfied.

Ino wondered why the greeting sounded so different when he punctuated it with her name, but it did. He peeled off one of his arms from around her and rubbed his eyes roughly with a knuckle. "What time is it?" he asked.

Ino glanced at the clock once again. "It's past seven." She knew that Gaara always left home at around eight in the morning, so she doubted he would consider _'right now' _as _'late for work'_.

"It's morning?" he asked dully.

"Yeah."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, as if thinking she was pulling his leg. He then looked over his shoulder at the window. Sunlight was streaming into his office. He turned back to Ino and let his head fall on his pillow. "It's _morning_. I fell asleep."

"I'd call it a breakthrough. How do you feel?" Ino asked as he placed his hand back on her waist, as if he had done so many times before.

"I feel… _rested."_

"Is this the first time you've had a good night's sleep?"

Gaara thought for a moment, then said, "As far as I could remember, yes." He looked at Ino searchingly, as if wanting to ask her something. The hand on her waist twitched, then finally he opened his mouth and said, "It was the first time I didn't dream."

Ino blinked at him. Kankurou did mention one time about Gaara's nightmares. Gaara's older brother never did elaborate much, and Ino didn't have the heart in her to pry. But way Gaara looked relieved at the absence of said dreams, she guessed Gaara never associated dreaming with good things. "The nightmare's just beginning," Ino said quietly.

Gaara looked at her, confused. Ino used a hand to point behind him. Gaara rolled onto his back and twisted his head over to where Ino was gesturing. His eyes landed on the new stack of papers by the door.

"More work," Gaara whispered, and Ino could practically '_feel' _the life leave him immediately. It was plain that he was instantly regretting he had fallen asleep. He sighed in resignation as he draped an arm over his eyes.

Ino propped herself up on one elbow and looked down at Gaara's face. His mouth was pulled down into a frown Ino hadn't seen on him for a while now. "Are you all right?"

Gaara ignored her.

Ino gently placed a hand on his chest. She could feel his heart beating slowly. "Hello?"

No answer.

Ino sighed. "Look, I know you're blaming yourself for sleeping, but I, for one, am genuinely happy you decided to rest."

That was what got a reaction from Gaara. He peeled his arm off his eyes and looked at Ino. "You're happy?"

Ino shrugged. "Well, a girl wouldn't take pleasure in seeing her fiancé kill himself before her very eyes. I'm actually very worried about you, and that's me,_ as a person,_ speaking. If I weren't here, I doubt you'd be eating anything other than those food supplements you insist on stocking. Not to mention the fact that this is the first time I've seen you actually _sleep _in the past seven days I've been here." Ino smiled down at him. With the way Gaara was behaving, she was starting to truly think that he did _need _a woman in his life, not just because the village said so, but because he needed someone to mediate the man with his health and prevent him from dying early.

Gaara did not say anything, but he had stopped hiding his face from her.

Ino gestured at the papers on the floor. "I've always wondered about it, but why don't you try getting an assistant? You know, to filter all these. Surely, not all of these require your attention?"

"Because I've always managed well without one," he said, then bit his lower lip, as if to stop himself from saying any more.

Ino caught onto what he was trying to say. He's always managed well without one _until the fiancée thing came up_. He was so very easy to read.

Ino propped the side of her head in one hand. "Do you enjoy over-working?" she asked blandly.

Gaara gave her that trademark one-eyed stare of his. "It gives me a sense of purpose."

_Of being needed, no doubt, _Ino thought. She sighed. She knew that she did not have the right to judge this man. He had been doing this for fourteen years, and all his efforts reflected on how well the Sand was doing. She wanted to tell him that he was great at his job. Heck, she thought he was too _great_. But was it worth to compromise everything else for that? Even his health and happiness?

Ino poked his shoulder with a finger lightly. "Look, just for today," she started. "If you'll let me, I'll help you sort these papers out. I've had quite a bit of experience in documentations and decoding from five years' worth working with the Intelligence Division back in Konoha, so I think I wouldn't be completely useless to you. We can divide everything according to the degree of need, finish those that need finishing today, forget about those that aren't really in a hurry, and let's have brunch together at home. What do you say?" she offered lightly.

Gaara was looking up at her in wonder. There was that doubt in his eyes again, like the time when she made him eat tomatoes. It was as if he was wondering if he could trust her. For a second Ino thought he was going to decline. That was why she was pleasantly surprised when he rolled onto his side facing her, and those unsure arms of his were once again around her in a second, his big hands flat against the small of her back, his face back under her chin, nose pressed against her neck just like last night.

"Thank you," was the only thing he said, his voice muffled by Ino's neck and pillow.

Ino stared at the top of his head in disbelief. "You're not going back to sleep, are you?"

Gaara shook his head. "Since we will be sorting the papers together later, can we stay like this for another thirty minutes?"

Ino was once again thrown into a loop. Gaara had been throwing out uncharacteristic requests – chamomile tea, chicken stew, _snuggling in bed?_ – left and right lately. Ino was not complaining; in fact she was a bit glad when Gaara requested for things; it made her feel like he was already lowering his guard around her.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. _You like to cuddle?" _Ino mused as she relaxed against him, slipped her own arms around his shoulders and started to play with a bit of the hair on the back of his head.

"I only just found out last night," Gaara admitted quietly. "It was my first time to fall asleep with someone in twenty nine years."

And of course, Ino believed him. And it was because she believed him that it made her heart hurt. She doubted she could understand the man more than Naruto could, but for some reason, she _did_. "Never underestimate the healing power of touch," Ino said cheerfully, trying to brush away the feeling pulling at her heartstrings. _First time in twenty nine years_… How painful could it be for a human being to live his life without having experienced being embraced? She was not even aware she had tightened her arms around him. "Just don't fall asleep on me, or we'll never get any work done," she added jokingly.

"I know."

And they were silent. Afraid that Gaara might indeed end up falling asleep, she poked his head with her nose. "Iwate delivered some stuff yesterday, by the way."

Gaara gave a start. "Did you like the pots?"

"They're lovely. I saw your collection. I took the liberty of arranging them by the windows. I was thinking of doing it together but I…" Remembering not to make Gaara guilty again for not coming home last night, she said, "But I got bored and did it myself, anyway. You're free to change them when we get home later."

"I trust your judgment," Gaara said.

And they were silent again.

Ino tried to think of something more to talk about. She opened her mouth to say something random when the door suddenly burst open, admitting a very hassled-looking Kankurou dressed in his usual black tunic. "Gaara! Are you – !"

Ino froze in her place.

Kankurou was also petrified in the middle of Gaara's office as his dark eyes landed on the sight on the sofa bed. He closed the door slowly, his face turning a few shades of red, before turning purple. "Oh… oh, crap… "

Gaara slowly – almost menacingly – slipped his arms off of Ino and pushed himself to a sitting position. Calmly, he swung his long legs off of the bed, planting them on the floor before looking up at Kankurou with an unreadable expression on his face, as if the Puppet Master hadn't just walked in on his little brother in bed with a woman.

Ino sighed and shook her head as she, too, sat up on the cushion and arranged her hair over one shoulder. She didn't even want to _think_ what was going on in Kankurou's head. Because whatever it was, she knew she was going to have to deal with it for the rest of the month, if not for the rest of her _life_.

Kankurou looked from Ino to Gaara, then back again. "Ino… you're here…" he said weakly.

Ino gestured with her hands. "Surprise, surprise?"

Gaara was as tranquil as can be. "Is there anything wrong?"

Kankurou missed a beat, backing away slightly from them unconsciously. His foot stepped on several unsigned papers on the ground. "Ah, apparently nothing." He tried to compose himself. "I wanted to see you about today's gate duty. Shin's wife just went into labor, and he was wondering if someone can take his shift for him just for today. I went to your house, but you weren't there. I knocked but no one answered so I got worried that Ino… well… " His voice betrayed him.

"I'm safe," Ino said matter-of-factly.

Gaara was all business. "Inform Nobu of the sudden change of shifts. The boy doesn't have a mission for today. He's free. In the meantime, Hayao can handle the gate alone until Nobu gets there." His eyes never left Kankurou.

Kankurou stared back at him.

"Is there anything else you need?" Gaara asked.

Kankurou pointed at Gaara, then at Ino. "You two… you two were _hugging_ just now… weren't you?"

Gaara didn't even blink. "What of it?"

Ino busied herself with the small tangles in her hair.

"Well… It's just… something I wasn't expecting…"

"You didn't have to see it, if you had just _knocked_ on the door, like I always tell you to do," Gaara said levelly. He wasn't raising his voice, but perhaps it was the years of being the Kazekage that made every word he said heavy with meaning.

Kankurou narrowed his eyes at them. "Are you two… ?"

Gaara stood up from the sofa bed. "Relieve Shin of his post," he said shortly.

Kankurou raised his hands in front of him. "Okay, okay. I get it." He darted a look at Ino.

Ino waved back at him weakly.

Kankurou gave them one final look before disappearing through the door.

Gaara let out a breath, shoulders slumping. He kept his back to Ino as he crouched down and picked up the papers Kankurou had stepped on before straightening back to a standing position. The puppet master had left a handsome footprint on said papers. Gaara's hands were shaking as he held them a few inches away from his face.

Ino hurriedly got up from the bed, approached Gaara from behind. She had one hand on his waist as her other hand reached out around him and took the papers from his hand. "That was very awkward, wasn't it?"

Gaara turned to her, those eyes that had been so relaxed a few minutes ago were now tight around the edges, and his frown was back. "I'll talk to him. So he doesn't misunderstand."

"Psh! I don't mind. Kankurou would just make a bigger deal out of it if we let it bother us." She looked down at the papers. "What's more important is we have to start with your – _what on earth is this?"_ She wrinkled her nose at the thing in her hand. _"Dear Kazekage-sama, it pains me to know that your heart belongs to another woman. Should I have known you liked blondes, I would not have hesitated introducing you to my daughter, Minami. She is – "_

Gaara snatched the papers back from Ino's hand, crumpled them immediately and dropped them to the floor uncaringly.

Ino had control her laughter. "You get _fan_ _mail?"_ she asked incredulously.

Gaara cleared his throat. "Occasionally, yes."

Ino dove for the nearest pile of papers and she started digging in for more useless stuff. In her first three minutes, she had already unearthed ten love letters from anonymous women, and strangely three love letters from anonymous _men_. Ino shook her head as she clutched those letters in one hand and showed it to Gaara. "You keep up with this crap?"

"Everything _addressed_ to the Kazekage is to be sent _directly_ to the Kazekage. I made that rule. I can't break it, though I wish I could," he said as he sat down beside her, crossing his legs in front of him. He reached out for a bundle of papers himself and started sifting through them. His face was slightly pink, as if embarrassed that Ino had to see those letters.

Ino could only shake her head, this time in disbelief. "You've been getting love confessions along with important documents! Who brings these things to you?"

"Messages from outside the village are delivered straight from our customs department. Messages from the inside are passed onto Baki."

"And they don't filter these for you?"

"The rule – "

Ino crumpled the love letters into a ball. "This is ridiculous. I'm talking to the people in charge at customs and Baki to stop sending my husband-to-be love letters from women." She shuddered. "_Or _men."

Gaara looked up from the papers in his hands, once again the unreadable expression in his face.

Ino raised an eyebrow at him, shrugging. "What? It would be believable if the order came from me. I'll tell them that I get jealous of people who send you love letters."

Gaara immediately turned away, nodding. "Thank you." And they fell into a comfortable silence broken only by the shuffling of documents and the soft _'Thonk! Thonk!'_ of crumpled-up papers falling into the garbage can Ino had pulled towards them.

By eight-thirty, they discovered that almost one-third of those papers were nothing more than just junk mail. By the time they were done, Gaara was already in a relatively good mood. They had divided the papers into three piles depending on the urgency of the matter. It appears that the most urgent of the documents Gaara had were a few dozen mission reports that needed to be approved and handed down today to Temari for assigning. The rest were requests for trade, questions and inquiries from colonies about this year's academy enrollment and matters concerning the other Hidden Villages.

Ino stretched her arms over her head. "It looks like you have your work cut out for you."

"Now that everything is arranged, I feel much better," Gaara said as he carefully wrapped the plastic containers of last night's dinner into Ino's purple scarf. He looked over to Ino. "And we get to eat brunch together." He was trying to be comfortable with the fact that he would be leaving his work behind just to eat.

Ino returned his gaze in understanding. "Tell you what. Why don't you stay here and finish off what you can finish. I'll run to the market quick, cook us food, and bring it here so you don't lose your momentum. How does that sound?"

The relief was evident in Gaara's face. "Are you angry?"

"Why would I be angry?"

"Because we already planned brunch at home."

Ino laughed at him. He was such a people-pleaser. "Don't worry about it. In exchange for this un-romantic brunch in your office, come home early tonight. Okay?" She watched him expectantly. She was surprised – and happy – when Gaara nodded without even a bit of hesitation.

Gaara sat behind his desk before looking up at Ino and said, "I'd like pork cutlets for dinner… "

Ino collected the bundle of empty plastic containers, tucking it under one arm. Another request. She couldn't help but smile. "Pork cutlets? Okay. How about brunch? I was thinking of having sandwiches. We have a few eggs and pickles at home."

Gaara had already started reading one of the papers on his desk, but he looked up once more when Ino started talking. "As long as you make them, I'm sure they will be good."

Ino was a bit taken aback at his compliment, thinking that Kankurou must still be onto the man. "I'll just stop by Baki's office before returning here, then. Might as well make sure he doesn't send you any more letters from weird people."

Gaara hesitated a bit before saying, "Will you be all right by yourself? Should I ask Temari or someone to escort you to the village proper?"

Ino frowned. "I'm fine. I always go to the market alone. Why?"

Gaara stared at her for a minute, then he shook his head. "Nothing."

Ino waited for him to elaborate, but when he went back to his work, she shrugged and went for the door. "I'll be back before eleven. I want to shower quick, too."

Gaara nodded absently, finally getting absorbed in his work.

Ino gave the man one final worried look before opening the door of the office. Not wanting to disturb Gaara, she closed the door gently, soundlessly. She sighed. Things with Gaara were so simple yet so complicated.

She turned around and nearly gasped when she saw Kankurou leaning on the wall across Gaara's door.

"Weren't you supposed to relieve someone from their gate duty?" Ino asked the man as she started down the hall.

Kankurou followed her and started walking beside her. He gave her a gentle nudge in the side. "Did you spend the night in Gaara's office?"

Ino glared at the man suspiciously. "I did. What's it to you?"

"You two didn't… "

Ino sneered at him. "Oh, you're thinking dirty thoughts. Is that the only thing you can ever think about?"

Kankurou looked a little annoyed. "Of course not. I was just worried about Gaara is all." He had his hands behind his back, trying to act nonchalant.

Ino sniffed irritably. "Worried about what?"

Kankurou shrugged. "About… well… " He turned to Ino quickly. "You can't blame me for worrying."

"I'm not blaming you for _anything_," Ino pointed out, shifting the plastic containers from one hand to another. "And really, I find it sweet that you're worried about your brother and all that."

Kankurou brought his arms down at his sides, digging his fists into his pockets. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything. We've had this talk once before… "

Ino stopped walking right before they passed through the door leading to the square. She turned to Kankurou, looking the man up and down. She took in the stoop of his shoulders, the way he carried himself at the moment. While always cool, collected and a bit cocky, the man looked very unsure of himself right now.

Ino sighed. "Look. Last night, he didn't come home so I brought him dinner. He fell asleep on his desk." Ino couldn't help but grin at the memory of that very frantic Gaara with a scroll sticking down one side of his face. "He ate, I asked him to rest. I wanted to talk to him, so I invited him on the bed. After hesitating, he finally said 'all right' and we just lay there, talking. You know, about work and stuff."

Kankurou started biting at the insides of his cheeks. He was trying to think of what to say. After a while, he asked, "What did he say about work?"

Ino shrugged. "He gave himself a hard time, saying that one of the reasons he doesn't want to get married is because he can't juggle priorities well. He actually thought I was… _not pleased _when he didn't come home on time. I was more worried than anything, of course." She narrowed her eyes at Kankurou. "He seems to think all women like to be prioritized over everything else. You didn't have anything to do with that, right?"

Kankurou raised his hands in the air. "No. Definitely not. I think he thought that up all by himself."

Kankurou did not look like he was lying, but Ino doubted Gaara could deduct things about how women think _'all by himself'._

"Anyway, I don't even know why I have to report this to you, but Gaara actually embraced me last night when I suggested going home. He asked me to stay. So I did. We were both okay with it. He fell asleep in the middle of the conversation. And I guess so did I. End of story." Ino snorted. "Or were you hoping something _did _happen? You pervert."

Kankurou was now looking at her in disbelief. "Gaara _hugged _you? Really?"

Ino raised one hand in front of her in surrender. "Kankurou. Lay off. I know you love Gaara a lot. I understand. I really do. But," she touched the man on the shoulder and squeezed lightly. "He's not a child anymore. He may be a bit difficult than the average male, that's why you'd want to protect him as much as you do. But there are things in life he has to experience on his own. You know, to learn."

"I know that," Kankurou said grudgingly. He still did not look too convinced.

Ino smirked. "Or are you thinking I'm going to despoil him?"

Kankurou immediately turned a violent shade of red. "It never crossed my mind!"

"Indeed," Ino muttered. She stepped out into the square. Glad that it was still a bit early and the sun not too hot on the skin, she turned around and watched Kankurou stalk after her in huge strides.

"Wait! I didn't mean it that way! Really!"

Ino laughed, stopping in the middle of the square to wait for Kankurou to catch up. "Oh yeah? What did you mean, then?"

"It's just… " Kankurou was scratching his head again, uncomfortable. "It's just that Gaara never opens up to people that easily. As in _never_. And I guess… ever since you came, he's like this… I can't quite put my finger into it. He looks more _relaxed_."

_Talking to you… _relaxes _me…_

Something inside Ino stirred. She didn't know what it was, but it was not a comfortable feeling. She covered it up with a smile for the older man. "This will do the mission good. The more comfortable we are with each other, the better."

Kankurou's jaw was set as he looked down at Ino for a few silent moments. After that, his expression softened. "You're right." He paused, then. "Regardless of the mission, I guess I should say thank you."

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Thank you for what?"

Kankurou started looking for words to better explain what he meant. He seemed like he wasn't able to find them. He shrugged. "For everything. What else?" He patted her shoulder. "I'll see you around. You're going home, right?"

"Just for a while. Then off to market, then back to the tower to bring Gaara his lunch."

Kankurou nodded. "Sounds great. Anyway, maybe you should get someone to escort you around. Some of the daughters are off for their morning stroll in a few minutes. They might give you a hard time today."

"They always give me a hard time," Ino pointed out.

"They're probably going to give you _extra_ today."

"Why's that?"

Kankurou grinned mirthlessly. "Some chuunin delivered papers to Gaara's office in the middle of the night. I guess you didn't notice it, but they saw you all lovey-dovey on the bed. And you know how those underlings are with rumors… "

Ino felt a bit light-headed. _Great… Just great…_

* * *

After washing the plastic containers of Gaara's dinner, then a quick shower, Ino set off to the market feeling content. Last night had been a breakthrough for her and Gaara, and aside from the awkward part when Kankurou kept on pestering her about… what _was _Kankurou pestering her about? The Puppet Master obviously wanted to tell her something, but it was covered up by too many vague topics and misplaced concern for his twenty-nine-year-old baby brother.

She shook her ponytail over her shoulder and greeted a few people as she made her way through the narrow alley she always took in going to the market. Sandwiches, sandwiches. She already had eggs and pickles. Maybe a bit of ham? She hoped they had cheese available, too.

"Ino-san!" Someone called her name from behind.

Ino looked over her shoulder and was surprised when she saw Masami running towards her, waving like crazy. Behind her, Iwate was jogging leisurely, as if used to having his companion dart away from him so suddenly. Of course, the mere fact that the two were together was already boggling Ino's mind as it was.

"Masami? And Iwate-kun?" Ino choked out as Masami threw her arms around Ino and spun her around in a circle.

"Good morning, Ino-san," Iwate said as he reached her side. "Off shopping?"

Ino laughed as she tried not to lose her footing when Masami finally let her arm go. "Yeah, off to get food. What are you two up to?"

Masami was looking all around them with wide eyes. "I wanted to go for a walk, but Temari-san wasn't available. So Temari-san asked Iwate-kun to be my escort today." She gestured at Iwate with both hands, as if to say _'tah-dah!' _

"Of course," Ino said as she shifted her gaze from Iwate to Masami, then back again.

"Can we go with you to the market? Temari-san always decides where we should go, but Iwate-kun won't decide for me, so we really don't know where to go. I'd love to see what you're getting for lunch! Are you eating lunch with Gaara-sama? What are you making?" The girl babbled on, tugging on a few loose copper strands that had come free from the bun at one side of her head. "Is the market that way? Let's go!" She bounced away, luckily, for Ino, towards the right direction.

Ino raised her brows at Iwate, who was scratching his ash-blond head ruefully as he watched Masami dance down the alley leading to the market. "My, don't you have your hands full." She said as they started walking slowly, making sure to keep a visual of the girl from Pippu.

"She's curious about everything there is. She complains that I don't tell her what to do, but I thought it would be better for her to just look around at her own pace," Iwate said, his eyes trained straight at Masami, whose attention was caught by a flower sitting on top of a potted cactus in front of a residential house.

"Are you sure that's safe? Masami is bad at decision-making," Ino said.

"Really? I wouldn't know. We've been together for just an hour, so I'm not really sure. She hasn't made a single decision ever since I picked her up earlier from the tower."

Ino smiled as she looked up at the younger boy knowingly. "Looks like _someone's_ speaking very fondly of _someone_."

Iwate was instantly taken aback, face flushing red. "Wh-what? No, Ino-san. I hardly know her. I just met her yesterday."

"I'm not saying anything." Ino laughed as she let the way towards the market place, Iwate protesting at her all the way.

Taking her time in picking the ingredients she wanted to put into her sandwich and sometimes letting Masami pick for her, Ino wove through the fairly busy market with a song on her lips. Today was turning out to be a good day. Gaara was in a good mood, she hadn't spotted a single hostile desert colony daughter yet, and she just found out that the young Iwate was possibly down for a crush on the ever-innocent Masami.

And then tonight, Gaara was coming home early. Oh, yeah. She should buy some pork, for the cutlets. She shouldn't forget that.

Ino smiled to herself. Absolutely nothing could ruin this day for her.

Or so she thought.

It happened when Iwate ran off in search for Masami who had disappeared into the crowd surrounding the stall selling sweets.

She turned around while rummaging through her basket to check if she had gotten everything she needed, not seeing where she was going. She ended up bumping into Temari.

The older woman steadied her with a hand on her forearm before she nearly tossed her basket over.

"Temari, good morning!" Ino greeted, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up. "I thought you weren't available, that's why Masami is here with Iwate."

Temari's scowl was hard to miss. "That's because I'm escorting someone else." She squeezed Ino's arm lightly before letting go. "Go on. Get out of here."

Ino frowned at the woman. Temari wasn't always this rude. Of course, the reason why she looked like something was stuck up her ass was not far behind.

Ino saw her _shadow _before she saw _her_. Or better yet, she saw the _shadow _of that black umbrella. It came from behind her, suddenly invading her personal space. Ino turned quickly and she ended up face to face with big, icy blue eyes set on very fair skin. Ino backed away a bit, out of the shadow of her umbrella. There was no mistaking it; the lithe frame. The pale skin. That auburn hair pulled back into a neat plait that fell down her back to her waist.

_Kaia._

The woman had a small smile on her tiny pink lips as she held her umbrella over one shoulder, twirling it lazily as she looked Ino up and down. She was donned in a sky-blue tunic, with the sides divided up, riding high up her hips. The black shorts that reached down to mid-thigh peeked from under the material. A good little outfit when you valued mobility.

_She carries a weapon in broad daylight, and wears clothes like a fighter. Why am I not surprised?_

"I thought she would be prettier up close," the woman said, her head tilting to the side as her eyes challenged Ino openly.

Ino felt a vein pop on her forehead. _Why you little prick…_

Temari was quick in coming between them. Ino tried her best to smile at the woman.

"Kaia, right?" Ino said lightly, side-stepping Temari. "It's nice to meet you. My name's – "

"Oh, I know who _you _are." Kaia stopped twirling her umbrella and batted her eyelashes at Ino. "How could I not know the _fiancée_ of the Kazekage? You put up such a show in the welcoming party last week. I didn't know kunoichi from Konoha were so weak."

Ino felt her jaw crack from smiling too much. Was this chick for real? "Ah, I admit, it was a bit embarrassing. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Temari had her arms crossed over her chest, as if waiting for hell to break loose. She was watching Ino with her sharp eyes, as if telepathically saying, _'don't go there.'_

_Say one more word against me, and I'll bust your face in, princess… _

Kaia's eyes wandered down to the basket in Ino's hand. "Is that for Gaara-sama's lunch?"

Unconsciously, Ino held the basket away. God forbid the woman slip _something _in there. "Yes. I'm making him sandwiches."

Kaia smirked. "Well, you have to be good at _something."_

Ino's hand twitched.

Temari stepped forward. "All right, enough of the snappy insults, Kaia. Ino's already trying to be polite. You shouldn't be talking to Gaara's – "

"Are you _really_ his fiancée?" Kaia interrupted, taking a step forward, the umbrella once again twirling. "Tell me, what was it your village offered in return?"

Ino's eyes instantly narrowed at the girl. She couldn't possibly be serious, right? "_Offered? _What do you mean, _offered?"_

Temari had her hand on her face instantly. She was muttering something to herself.

Ino stared at Kaia. "What are you talking about?" She whirled around to face Temari. _"What is she talking about?"_

Temari lifted her face from her hand. "Look, Ino. Let's talk about this later. People are starting to stare…"

She was right. The busy market full of civilians had come to a complete stand-still. Some of the wiser had scooted away in a hurry, not wanting to get involved into anything that concerned ninja affairs. The stall owners a few feet away from them had started to close up and wheel their goods away, farther into the market where they could at least be relatively safer. Some of them weren't so wise and they preferred to gape and stare and whisper at each other as they left their own basket of vegetables on the ground, shopping forgotten.

Ino felt her own basket nearly drop from her hands. She scooped them up safely against her chest before once again reigning in the sudden prickly warmth that had broken out within her. Was Temari hiding something from her about this whole engagement again? Was there something that she still needed to know?

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but our village never _offered _anything. Konoha and Suna are beyond that," Ino hissed, her own words poison in her mouth. Surely this girl was suggesting the unthinkable. "Don't make it sound like Gaara chooses his women over diplomatic presents passing between village council hands!"

"Ino, that's enough," Temari said, trying hard to avoid any more confrontation.

Kaia had tilted her chin back, stared at Ino with those big blue eyes of hers. Under the shadow of her umbrella, they appeared flat and lifeless. And very unbelieving. "Ainonai offered manpower, by the way. The council of Suna was pleased. And here I am," she said simply, gesturing at herself with one hand. "I was convinced I would be chosen; Ainonai produces great talent, after all. I wasn't expecting Gaara-sama would pull _you _out of his sleeve. Considering you didn't have anything to offer." She smiled a one-sided smile.

Just the mere thought of it made Ino want to claw the woman's eyes out. Then who'd be smiling? She clutched the basket with white fingers. She did not think it was worth talking to this woman. She didn't even want to _think _about this woman. So the council – the people Gaara had thought he trusted – was actually trying to sell the spot of 'Kazekage's Wife' for _colony relations? _Did Gaara know?

_Temari knows. Surely, Gaara doesn't know. If he knew, he would have been the first to blow his head off._

Ino didn't know, though. She didn't know that her pretending to be Gaara's fiancée could possibly be ruining long-term arrangements that had everything to do with the Hidden Sand's relationships with other parts of the Wind Country.

Now she knew why the seventeen women were so angry with her. Half of her was trying to rationalize that all the daughters of the delegates had a right to be mad; after all, they had been promised a chance, in exchange for something…

_No! No, no, no!_

They didn't have the right to be angry if Gaara didn't want to marry any of them! And surely they didn't have the right to be angry at _her! _She was just here for a goddamned mission to convince the goddamned council that she was the fiancée of the goddamned Kazekage!

She didn't need to get too personal! This was just a mission!

Then why was she so angry when she just found out Gaara had practically been auctioned off to these people for the sake of the village? These were Suna affairs. She didn't have a say in any of it…

_Gaara had every good reason to be tired of this…_

But she was still here on a mission. And Yamanaka Ino was a perfectionist when it came to missions. Gaara was still a client. And he was paying her to be the fiancée. So right now, whatever happened, she _is _the fiancée.

"Excuse me," Ino said coolly. "But my man is waiting and I still have to make sandwiches." She turned on her heel and started to walk away, trying her best to keep her whole body from shaking. Was Suna really this messed up? She will have to talk to Gaara about this. Or better yet, have _Naruto _talk to Gaara.

If the stupid Hokage though he could stick her into a mission whose depth he irresponsibly didn't know and get away with it, then he had another thing coming.

And at that moment, so did she.

It happened faster than a blink of an eye. One moment, she was walking away from that hateful woman, the next there was a strong cutting wind swirling around her, and when she turned around to see what was going on, Kaia was in the air, her umbrella spinning before closing to a snap, the tip of it aimed straight at her like some fancy rapier.

Ino forgot the basket in her arms altogether as one of her hands reached down to her leg for a kunai holster that wasn't there. Cursing herself for not carrying a weapon, she instead raised her arms in front of her to block Kaia's blow.

In another second, she could only gasp when she found Masami suddenly coming in between her and Kaia, just in time to absorb the piercing blow of her umbrella with the chain of a kusarigama.

Metal scraped against metal, and Kaia bounded a few feet away. The wind cutting across the market place stopped instantly when she let her umbrella snap open again sharply.

"That's enough!" Temari screamed. She was standing in between the girls and the civilians, her own gigantic fan, opened two-thirds through, clutched between her hands.

Iwate was standing on her other side, hands outstretched over his shoulders. Ino could see the thread of chakra trailing from his fingers to every single stall within the market place. The always goofy look he had on his face was gone completely, replaced by a serious, grim look that did not suit his young face at all.

The snoopy people in the market place, having seen that it was merely Temari's presence that had saved them from getting blown away by Kaia's wind attack, and Iwate's technique the only thing holding down objects from flying everywhere, finally realized that being there was not such a good idea. They hurried away in droves, pushing at each other as they crowded around the narrow alley.

"Kaia-san, put that _down_." Masami pulled at the chain of her weapon testily, swinging the sickle with a steady hand. Her bubbly expression was no where to be found. If anything, she looked _anxious_. She had just entered a fight that wasn't hers. "You wouldn't want to get into Gaara-sama's bad side."

Ino snapped out of her temporary brain damage when she saw what happened to her basket. It had fallen a few feet from her.

Everything that was supposed to be in it was… _not in it_. Everything was on the ground. With bits of sand sticking on them.

It was like seeing through a film of red. Ino calmly touched Masami's shoulder. "That's all right, Masami. Step down."

Masami looked a bit hesitant as she looked over her shoulder at her. "Ino-san?"

"Thank you," Ino said, smiling sincerely at the girl, thinking that it must have taken a lot of courage for her to actually stand between her and this aggressive girl from Ainonai.

Temari was not pleased. "Let it _go_, Ino. Gaara will hear of this and she'll be out of the village by noon."

"No," Ino said under her breath as she gently pushed Masami away. "The lady wants to fight. That's fine with me."

Iwate's eyes widened in fright. The glow of chakra linking him to the stalls vanished and he took a step forward. "Uhm, I don't think that would be a good idea. This isn't the place to – "

"Don't worry," Ino interrupted. "This won't take long." She still had goddamn sandwiches to make before eleven. She'll make this swift.

Kaia was busy eying her with those baby blues of hers. The smile was still on her pink lips. "Are you really going to fight me? You don't even have a single kunai on you. Is that your trump card? Playing the damsel in distress?" She lazily twirled her umbrella.

Ino's mouth was set on a thin line when she set her feet apart, shoulder-width, then rolled her shoulders back. She had wanted to avoid any confrontation with anyone as much as possible, but this girl was testing her patience.

Kaia sneered at her as she shifted her umbrella from one shoulder to another. "The Kazekage wouldn't have chosen you as her fiancée, even if your village did offer him everything it had." Her sneer widened. "Your hips are just too wide."

Something inside Ino snapped. The girl didn't just say she was _fat_, did she?

In a heartbeat, Ino had her arms stretched in front of her before bringing it down near her chest, her thumbs and index fingers pressed against each other.

Kaia was suddenly curious. Ino didn't give her the chance to say anything. No one – and she meant _no one _– called her fat and got away with it!

"_Shintenshin no jutsu!"_

Masami gasped. Iwate's jaw dropped. Temari had her face back in her hand.

The smile faded from Kaia's face as her arms suddenly moved on their own.

"What…? What have you done to me…!" Ino watched unblinkingly as Kaia held her umbrella on either ends and raised it over her head.

"A sign of a good fighter, you see, missy, is they pick their fights wisely," Ino narrowed her eyes at her. "And if we ever do start a fight with anyone, we make sure we win, because it's just too embarrassing if we lose."

"What's happening?" Kaia cried as she struggled to regain control of her body. The panic was evident on her face as she watched the umbrella held between her hands.

"_I'm_ happening_,_" Ino said matter-of-factly, and she smirked when Kaia raised her knee up and snapped her umbrella into two over it. She made Kaia throw the broken weapon aside. Content that at least the woman was now weaponless and they were on even ground, Ino released her from her jutsu and dusted her hands on her skirt.

Kaia stumbled forward at the sudden release and she clenched and unclenched her hands in front of her face as if to check if everything was all right.

"What just happened?" Iwate exclaimed, looking from Ino to Kaia in wonder.

Masami was also dumbstruck, her weapon dangling from her hands loosely. "I-Ino-san…? What did you just do?"

"Now that we have that out of the way…" Ino stalked towards the still shocked Kaia, pulled back her hand and slapped the girl hard across the cheek. Kaia was thrown off to one side, barely staying on her feet. Oh, that felt _good_.

"First of all, kunoichi from Konoha aren't _weak_. Unlike _you_, we don't just attack random people we hardly even know just because of a guy. That's _unbecoming_, and _embarrassing_."

Kaia held the cheek Ino had just slapped, those eyes wide and a bit frightened.

Ino's hands twitched, feeling the urge to slap her again, but contained herself. "Second, My village never offered anything to Suna. My Hokage and Suna's Kazekage had been friends for sixteen years, and they are way, _way _beyond that political crap. My engagement with Gaara doesn't have _anything _to do with Suna or Konoha. My engagement with Gaara involves _me _and _Gaara_. He loves my cooking, and my tea, and I love his – "

_What did she love about him?_

Ino squared her shoulders. "_And I love him!_ And I don't even care if you believe me or not, because once Gaara finds out you just attacked me unprovoked, it's bye-bye for you! So that's that!" And just for added effect, she stuck her tongue out to the woman.

Iwate was now ogling her like she had gone crazy. Masami was actually clapping her hands in front of her, saying, "That's telling her, Ino-san! You're amazing!"

"Oh, brother," Temari muttered under her breath, face still in her hand.

Kaia was now gaping at her with watery eyes. So it seems the girl had lost her spunk. Ino didn't care. She had sandwiches to make. She whirled on her heel and was about to see if there were still things she could salvage from the overturned basket sitting forlornly in the corner when she remembered something. She turned back to the woman, who was now on her knees, looking sorry and defeated.

"Oh, and you know what? The Kazekage wouldn't have chosen you as his fiancée, even if your colony _did_ offer him everything it had. You're too _skinny_." She started for the basket again, then remembered one more thing. She turned back to Kaia, who was now already completely resigned. "And my hips aren't _wide_. These are very good, child-bearing hips, you see! Ebizo-sama said so himself. But I bet you don't know who Ebizo-sama is because _you don't matter_." She finished in a huff.

Temari was peeking in between her fingers now. "Are you done?" she asked weakly.

Ino wrinkled her nose as she gathered her basket, not caring if the things she had dumped back in it were covered with sand. "Yes, actually I _am_ done."

"Wow, she has a bit of a childish streak in her, huh?" Iwate whispered loudly to Temari.

"Ino's always been sensitive about her looks," Temari explained, acting as if Ino couldn't hear them. "Too bad Kaia didn't know _that_." She shot the Ainonai representative a disapproving look. "She asked for it, though. Gaara wouldn't be happy about this."

Masami hurried to Ino's side as she slipped her weapon back under her robes. "You were wonderful, Ino-san! So very cool!" She was getting flustered and excited again.

Ino sniffed nonchalantly. "That was nothing."

Masami shook her head. "No, no! It was one of the most romantic things I've ever seen! That declaration of love for Gaara-sama was… oh!" She clasped her hands near her chest and sighed softly.

Ino stopped in her tracks. She did not just give out a _declaration of love _for Gaara…! Her head whipped towards Temari, who was also coincidentally looking back at her with a curious expression on her hard face. When Temari saw her staring, she shifted her gaze to the kneeling Kaia and grabbed her arm gently. "Up you go, missy."

Ino clutched the basket to her chest and shook her head. She did not have time for this. She needed to get home, wash everything and make sure nothing tasted like Sand because Gaara would be waiting for her. Ino placed a hand on Masami's head. "I have to go. Will everything be all right here? The civilians?"

Iwate scratched the back of his head. "Don't worry. I'll make sure everything's back to normal after reporting to Gaara-sama."

Masami nodded enthusiastically. "Don't let us keep you from making your love-love lunch for Gaara-sama!"

Ino winced at how Masami had termed her sandwiches, but merely smiled at the girl. She gave one final look at Kaia, who kept her head down on the ground. With Kaia leaving, that would leave… _fourteen_ more daughters in the village. She hoped to god she wouldn't have to fight any more of them like this. Just in case, she should really start carrying her kunai holster. Making a note to herself, she said her goodbyes to Iwate, Masami and Temari before running back to Gaara's house and made the sandwiches in record time. All the while, the things Kaia had told her boggled her as started boiling eggs. Didn't Gaara have enough control on his council to keep them from doing those things behind his back? Maybe she should talk to him about it?

She shook her head. No, she was getting too involved into things that shouldn't even concern her. Gaara's been doing this for fourteen years. He didn't need her to nag about things that she didn't really know about.

Finishing up with the food, she cleaned up and returned to Gaara's office five minutes before eleven.

When she had entered the door, she already knew that Gaara had heard of the happening in the market place – most probably from Iwate and Temari – because the Kazekage's face was grim and the gourd he had in the corner of his office was rattling violently.

"Sandwiches!" she said cheerfully, trying hard to put up a front.

Gaara was on his feet immediately, and his eyes were roaming up and down her body, as if to check for any injuries. When he was satisfied that Ino looked uninjured, he fell sitting back on his chair. The gourd stopped moving immediately. "I'm very sorry about all this. I had expected Temari to be more reliable than that."

Ino brushed the comment away. "No, no. The woman was annoying so I just took her up on her challenge. Broke her umbrella and slapped her across the face. No harm done. Though I think we frightened the civilians down there. I'm really sorry about that." Setting the container she had brought down on the relatively cleaner and paper-free desk, she picked one of the cheese sandwiches and bit into it as she sat down on the sofa bed contentedly.

Gaara still did not look too convinced. "Iwate told me the woman was unprovoked."

"Women don't need to be provoked to fight for a guy they have their eyes on," she pointed out.

"At least you are not hurt," Gaara said. "The woman is to leave the village as soon as possible. She won't be bothering you anymore."

Sure, now all she had to deal with are the other fourteen. She smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Gaara paused, gingerly plucked a sandwich from the container, then looked up at Ino. "These women are more violent than I thought," he suddenly said.

Ino nodded. "That makes two of us."

Another long pause from Gaara, then, "Is it because it really is a woman's greatest dream to get married? Kankurou said something like that before."

Ino raised an eyebrow at him. "That's _so _something a man would say."

Gaara looked genuinely surprised. "So it's _not_ a woman's greatest dream to get married?" He bit into his sandwich after sniffing it cautiously.

"Because you asked, let me enlighten you," Ino said as she leaned on her knees and said, "Contrary to popular belief, the greatest dream a woman has, is to be able to eat anything she wants without getting fat."

Gaara stopped chewing. He stared at Ino for a full minute, blinked a few times, then nodded. "That makes sense…" And he busied himself with his sandwich.

* * *

**A/N: I suck at fight scenes. I've written and re-written it many times, but I just couldn't get what I wanted, but I have to move on with this chapter. Maybe if I get better with it, I could just re-edit it once I've finished. By the way, The Arrangement will be ten chapters long, and probably an epilogue, if needed. Each chapter will have at least one romantic, mushy-mushy, lovey-dovey scene between Gaara and Ino, because… well… because it's a romance fic, with a bit of humor (that keeps on slipping to seriousness once in a while because I suck.) **

**Anyway, another "fast" update, because I'm still in the zone. Typing away with Protected simultaneously, but thought flows easier for this fic because it's such a happy story. My other multi-chapter SaiSaku fic is nearing its climax and that's always the hardest part to update because I want it to be perfect. Those of you who read it, know that I will not abandon it. I'm just writing on a whim, and this month's whim is GaaIno for me. :P**

**Anyway, thanks again for those who reviewed and favorited this story. I just love hearing from you guys! You all say such heart-warming feedback that sometimes I wonder if I'd be able to live up to your praise. I am not worthy… **

**Well, till the next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Ino's cat fight with the daughter of the delegate of Ainonai became the talk of the village for days, and as a result, Ino's second week passed even more eventful than the first. That was because some of the daughters had taken up after Kaia and thought it would be a neat idea to ambush her in the greenhouses, or the aviary, or the alley right across their house when the opportunity was available. In the past six days, six women had actually attacked her openly, all of which she defeated by either hand-to-hand combat, or a simple bitch slap across the face and a good talking-to. And when she was done with them, they were bundled off and out of the village by Gaara's orders.

She had wondered what the daughters were hoping to accomplish by fighting her; even if she lost – which she most definitely _would not _– Gaara would still have grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and thrown them out of the Sand in a heartbeat.

In fact, three days through their second week, Gaara had been more than adamant to chase all the daughters out of his tower and out of his village in fear of having Ino injured. Ino had to talk him out of it for an hour, which he eventually – and grudgingly – let her have her way. He did not know that the reason why they were this mad at her was because she had "stolen" the position they had apparently bought from the council.

But Gaara didn't have to know _that_.

She had talked to Temari and Kankurou about that disturbing fact the following day after her confrontation with Kaia. There wasn't anything complicated about the deal between the council and the colonies scattered around the Wind Country. Apparently, this had been the long-standing tradition in the Sand to build more connections with the outside if the Kage still hadn't settled down at age twenty-five. Kankurou and Temari had actually been surprised the council let Gaara off for four more years before finally asserting the fact that he needed to get married, have a child and secure the bloodline for the future of the Hidden Sand.

It was not as if Ino did not see where the council was coming from; she understood that the village mattered to them as much as Gaara valued it. But this was not how it happened in the Leaf, and she was just a plain hopeless-romantic. Her bias feelings were not helping, especially since she had been spending a lot of time with Gaara, and she was actually starting to think that they could honestly be friends, albeit the mission she was hired for, and the money he was paying her to be his fiancée for a month. She had never met anyone who was so behind in their emotional development, not by choice but by destiny. She could never understand his pain fully, of his childhood she _'sort of'_ knew from hearsay and from the stories of his siblings, because she didn't know what it felt to have a beast forcefully sealed inside her body for half her life and hated and shunned because of it. This, and the fact that she did not have to prove ten times as hard to be recognized like Gaara did.

And, of course, she just _wasn't _the Kazekage.

_No one_ knew how he must be feeling right now. Maybe not even Naruto, whose relationship with the once-shy Hyuuga Hinata was thriving well, to say the least.

Little by little, she had begun to see a bit of what Gaara could be if he didn't have his inhibitions hanging all over him. He was naturally a loner, and preferred quiet dinners and fruity tea. He loved his eggs scrambled with salt and no pepper and he ate it with soy sauce and not ketchup. He would shower in the morning for five minutes with cold water, and shower for twenty minutes at night with warm water. And he would walk around shirtless in the living room with just a towel over his shoulders and loose trousers as he waited for his hair to dry while going over more paperwork he had gotten used to bringing home every night from his office.

He seldom talked to Ino when working at home, but for some reason, he always wanted her in the same room with him. He never said it, but when Ino would sit in the kitchen to write her daily report for Naruto to be sent the next day, Gaara would walk in with his own work and sit across the table from her, saying nothing. And they would stay there silently doing their own business. When Ino finished, she would make them tea, and retire for the night in their room. This was a habit that came naturally after the night they had spent in Gaara's office, because it was the only way Gaara could actually sleep.

That was the strangest part, though. Ino already knew that Gaara loved physical human interaction, but he never slipped into bed with her without Ino inviting him. There was this one time when Gaara was so lost in his work in the living room and Ino didn't want to disturb him that she brushed her teeth and went into the room after saying good night to him, expecting he would come to bed after he had finished. She had slipped under the covers, and fallen asleep, and because she was naturally a light sleeper, she had ended up waking up in the middle of the night finding Gaara not in bed with her. When she peeked into the living room, she had found the man on his back on the couch, fidgeting uncomfortably because his legs just wouldn't fit on the furniture. When Ino came to pull him into their room, she had asked why he was sleeping on the couch.

"_I thought you would mind if I just got in without your permission," _he had said.

Which was just stupid because it was _his _bed to begin with. After that night, she made sure to always tell Gaara that it was time to sleep, and they would spend a few minutes talking under the covers while Gaara would shyly, tentatively, unsurely inch his way closer to Ino and slip his arms around her and tuck his head under her chin, like a little boy would to his mommy. Ino didn't mind, and whatever Kankurou and his dirty mind might think, it never crossed _her _mind that sleeping together with Gaara in one bed, wrapped in each others' arms was anything bordering sexual desire. If anything, Gaara was gravitating to her for comfort, more than anything. And she didn't mind. She honestly didn't.

Having her arms around him at night was starting to be a habit, actually. Waking up with him still asleep had become natural for the past week. Nudging him awake had become her job every morning, and then they would prepare breakfast together. Yes, Gaara helped with breakfast. It was on the second day of their second week did he discover he liked beating eggs and cutting up blocks of butter to melt in the frying pan when Ino wanted omelets. It was the strangest sight Ino had ever beheld, Gaara holding a frying pan in one hand, and a spatula in another.

And didn't he look absolutely adorable when he frowned when some of the egg would stick on the bottom of the pan?

Yes, having Gaara around was the only time Ino had peace, because when he left for his office, and she went on with her daily business away from their house, _they _would come.

Which was her predicament right now when the seventh woman that week appeared before her. It was around past four in the afternoon when she decided to drop off the pots and seeds Iwate had brought her a week ago to propagate into bulbs in this greenhouse. The timing was just too perfect.

Temari stared down at her worriedly at Ino who was doubled over, nurturing her left thigh which was punctured with three seven-inch senbon. "Are you all right?" she asked, crouching down beside her. "Let me see."

Ino winced when Temari let her sit back down to have a look at her injury. "I'm fine. I think you should tend to _her _instead."

They both looked over to the woman who was currently crumpled in a heap on the floor. She had been the smallest of the daughters still in the village, and Ino guessed she had been trying hard not to hurt the woman when she appeared out of a bundle of opium poppies and started throwing needles at her out of the blue. That was a bad idea, underestimating her. The moment she had put her guard down, the bitch had stabbed her on the thigh with her needles. Ino had backhanded the woman and hit her at the back of her head with the butt of her kunai, knocking her unconscious.

"This is nasty," Temari commented, ignoring the delegate behind her. "You should run to the infirmary quick."

Ino shook her head. She had a first-aid kit at home. She can tend to it herself later. "I don't want to bother anyone, and I don't want them to report this to Gaara."

"He'll find out when he sees the wound when he comes home."

"Well he doesn't have to find out _until _he comes home. And that's good enough for me." Gaara lost too much momentum when he worried about trivial things. The last thing she wanted was to get him angry; this was the first time one of the daughters had actually wounded her, and Gaara had always been nit-picky about her state _after _a fight.

Slipping her fingers in between the three senbon, she braced herself as she pulled all three out at once with a cry. She tossed the offending things to the side and immediately applied pressure before any more blood oozed out of those puncture holes.

"I told you before, Ino. You don't have to call their shots," Temari said quietly, her light eyes still worriedly examining her thigh. Every time a daughter would challenge her to a fight, Temari had always interfered. But because Ino would brush her away and say that they should at least give the daughters their dignity and let them lose with honor, Temari simply let them be.

It was the least Ino could do for them. They had, after all, been fooled into thinking that if they offered a dowry, they would get a chance at becoming the wife of the Kazekage. And it _was _Ino that was standing in their way.

_Let them fight. I won't lose to any of them. _

Not when her mission depended on it.

"I don't really care. How many are left? Seven more daughters? And it's only my second week. Maybe I can chase them all out before my month is up," Ino said humorlessly and took the roll of bandages Temari produced from her tiny supply kit she had been carrying around her lately since the attacks from daughters came at a daily basis. She wrapped her wounds tight and tested if she could stand. The pain shot up her leg like electricity, and she tried her best not to wince.

"That's not even funny," Temari said. "Gaara doesn't like this. He's scolded me at least twice a day for not trying to get in between your fights."

"I can handle them. They're not that strong."

"That's beside the point. Gaara's worried." Temari gave her a knowing look. "And he naturally _never _worries. He could stare you down with an expressionless face even when the village is under attack. Have you seen him lately?"

"We live together, of course I've seen him," Ino said dryly. She shook her head and gestured at the unconscious daughter. "You should really take her to a medic. If Gaara's going to throw her out of the Sand, she's gonna have to start packing soon. And it's already getting late." Her hand flew to her wound when she felt the warmth of blood spread over her skin. She needed to hurry home herself. She still needed to prepare dinner. Gaara had wanted curry tonight. It would take time to tenderize the beef. She wouldn't make it if she didn't start for home.

It took a while to convince Temari that she was okay. After a few more coaxing, the older woman finally surrendered, and she threw the unconscious daughter over her shoulder.

"Gaara's going to learn about this, you know. And he's going to ask about you again," Temari said before she left. "I'm not saying I'm gonna lie for you about that injury in front of him, but if you're the good medic that they say you are, then I trust you can handle yourself well enough that Gaara wouldn't kill me from hiding it from him?"

Ino had laughed at her and shooed her away. The Sand siblings worried too much. All three of them.

Getting home proved to be a task, and she was forced to stop several times to check the bleeding. By the time she finally made it back, the bandage Temari had given her was already soaked with her blood. Cursing under her breath, Ino grabbed her first aid kit from her rucksack in their room and went to tending to her wounds in the shower. Feeling slightly embarrassed for having been injured from underestimating her enemy, she made sure to disinfect the puncture wounds properly before using a bit of chakra to repair the torn up tissue and skin. There. No one could tell the difference.

By the time she was finished, it was already half past five in the evening, and she started to panic. Gaara would be home in an hour or so… Was she going to make it in time with dinner?

Ino disposed of the bloody bandages in the waste basket in the kitchen, washed her hands and busied herself with the basket of vegetables waiting on the counter. Feeling still slightly light-headed from the loss of blood and the events of that afternoon, she started with washing the carrots and potatoes, then peeling them with shaky hands. She took a deep breath, trying her best to calm herself when she dropped the knife twice in the sink. She didn't have to panic. She was sure Gaara would be willing to wait if ever she didn't get to prepare everything on time.

She wiped her forehead irritably and attacked the potatoes with a vengeance. This was one of the very few things she was looking forward to in a long day of fending off daughters; Gaara's childlike appreciation for her cooking. She had fulfilled the job for thirteen days straight. Today, she was going to make the best curry for Gaara, and it would take more than a desert colony pin-up to stop her.

She got everything washed, peeled and ready, then set aside while she worked on the beef. Using the mallet to tenderize, she imagined the slab of meat to be a random council member's face (though she hadn't met any of them before) and pounded away. It was quite satisfying, really.

_Here's for not even showing me enough decency to meet with me. _She whacked the meat with gusto. _And here's for treating Gaara like some breeding dog instead of the respectable man that he his. _She said a few more obscenities out loud, all punctuated with a bang of mallet on meat.

"I think it's dead enough."

Ino jumped a foot in the air in mid-pound. She dropped the mallet onto the floor, missing her feet by inches.

Gaara was standing at the door of the kitchen, the gourd which he usually puts down in their room before he wandered around into the kitchen for tea was still strapped to his back. He was looking down at the meat on the counter, as if he was actually feeling sorry for it. Those jade eyes of his shifted from the meat, to Ino's shocked face.

"Gaara…" Ino whispered, voice caught in her throat. Snapping herself out of it, she quickly crouched down to pick up the fallen mallet. She felt the world move shakily when she stood back up, and she used the counter to balance herself.

Gaara seemed to have caught her stagger, because his head cocked up sharply, his look never leaving Ino's face.

Ino covered it up with a smile. "I didn't hear you come in."

Gaara's nostrils flared. "I called out to you from the living room. I smell blood." He had changed the subject so fast that Ino wasn't able to react quickly enough.

Gaara turned his head to the side and took a deep breath, as if trying to take in the scent he said he had picked up, then released it with a huff. "I heard from Temari that you were attacked. Again. That's the seventh time this week." His voice was, strangely, the tone he used only in his office. While he was seldom dominant in his own house, he was _pretty dominant _right now. He stepped into the kitchen cautiously, those eyes roaming up and down her body, as if searching for the source of the smell.

For a brief moment, Ino pictured the beast that was once in Gaara's body, hunting for blood. Not a good image. She immediately got rid of it.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand after depositing the mallet into the sink for washing. "Same old story. Did you send her packing?"

Gaara nodded finally when he did not see any red bodily fluids dripping from Ino's person. He was silent again, but the wary air was still around him. He was wrinkling his nose. It was like he didn't like what he was smelling.

"You're home a bit early," Ino said, trying to break the silence between them.

Gaara's eyes darted to the clock by the shelf next to the refrigerator. "Thirteen minutes early, yes." His eyes were back on Ino. "Where is that smell coming from?" He just wouldn't let it go.

Ino groaned inwardly, and she threw her hands up in the air. "Okay, that's my blood you're smelling. I was wounded. The woman had needles on her, she stabbed me on the thigh. Got it fixed as soon as I got home. No harm done. See?" She motioned to her body weakly.

Gaara paused, then said, "Temari didn't say anything about you getting wounded."

"I told her not to tell you."

"Why?"

"Because you worry about it, and I don't want you worried."

Another pause, then, "Why?"

Ino shrugged as she poked the flattened meat with a tentative finger. "Because you're busy. And I don't want you worrying more than necessary. Besides, I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

Gaara was silent again, and there was a level expression that passed his face for a fleeting second before he nodded. "I'm getting changed."

"Okay," Ino smiled at him. "I'm sorry dinner isn't done yet. I'll boil the kettle for tea."

And after a penetrating stare, the man left the kitchen.

Ino sighed in relief. She could tell he was a bit off. Mad, maybe? She filled the kettle with water, and placed it over the fire. She hurried with slicing up the meat, sautéed the onions and other vegetables in a pot before preparing the broth. By the time Gaara came back in the kitchen, she had everything going and all they had to do was wait.

She was taking out a jar of the left over rice from lunch from the fridge when she felt Gaara come up from behind her. She backed up on him unintentionally, and his hands were instantly on her upper arms to keep her from stepping on is feet.

"I told you not to sneak up on me like that," Ino scolded as she regained her footing and she side-stepped away from Gaara, bringing the container to the table and tried hard to unscrew the cap off it.

Gaara followed her with his eyes. He slowly made his way towards her. "You're avoiding me." He accused lightly.

Ino struggled with the jar's stupid cap. "Why would I avoid you?" she asked.

Gaara paused, as he always did before answering. "I don't know. Maybe it's because you're lying."

Ino's hands stilled on the jar and she looked up at Gaara. This was probably the first time Gaara told her anything that came close to an accusation. She hadn't expected him to do such a thing. It had always been her job to understand his body language. She placed the jar on the table loudly. "And what am I lying about?" she asked.

"You don't look all right. You're sweating." He reached out to touch the back of her neck. His hands were warm against her cool, clammy neck.

"I'm in the kitchen. It's hot."

"No, it isn't." He dropped the hand to his side, then he picked up the jar of rice. He popped the cap with a single flick of his wrist. "And you're uncoordinated." He handed her the now open jar.

"Thank you," Ino said as she accepted it and hurried to the counter, in hopes to escape Gaara's probing eyes. She tried to change the subject. "How was work today?"

Gaara was distracted for that moment. "The common paperwork. But now that you told the customs department and Baki to filter them, I'm finding it easier to deal with. I left a few papers still unsigned today, but…" He scratched his forehead. "But I was getting hungry and so I came home early."

Ino instantly felt very guilty. "I'm sorry. I had wanted to get everything ready before you got here."

Gaara shook his head as he sat down on a dining chair and rested his elbows on the table. "I'm sorry. I lied. I'm not that hungry" He looked over to her again, looking slightly anxious. "I was worried about you."

Ino rolled her eyes and sighed. "See? That's exactly the reason why I didn't want to tell you about what happened today. You'd compromise your job and you lose your momentum when you get distracted. And I know how much you value your work."

"The relationship between Konoha and Suna are more important. Naruto will never forgive me if anything happened to you."

Ino snorted. "We're talking about Naruto. The last scroll I got from him was actually lecturing me to behave and not to give you a hard time." She left the rice on the counter and walked over to Gaara, standing over him and looking down at him with a sympathetic eye. The trip from the counter to the table made her world spin again, and she planted a hand on the table to keep steady. "I can handle myself, Gaara. These girls should know better than try to steal you away from me. You're mine. Well, at least for the whole month."

Gaara's silent stare was back on her face, those green eyes unwavering as he examined her face. Ino didn't know why, but there seemed to be something different in them today.

Ino reached out and rubbed a thumb over his cheek gently. "You look serious. What's up?"

Gaara caught her hand with his long fingers and brought it to the side of his face. He didn't say anything.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Gaara was rubbing her palm with his thumb gently as he lowered their clasped hands on the table. "I have a very, very important meeting with the council tomorrow at six in the morning. I'll be leaving early."

Ino was a bit taken aback. A meeting with the council? Did this have anything to do with the delegates and their daughters? Ino did not want to pry, and had the intention not to, but Gaara squeezed her hand softly and said, "Baki dropped by my office last night, and he said the council is willing to listen again to what I have to say about the delegates. I think… " The hand tightened around hers, almost to the point of hurting her. "I think they're starting to believe us."

Ino was a bit taken aback by the sudden revelation. Then she remembered she should congratulate him about it. "Really? Gaara, that's great!" she exclaimed, squeezing his shoulder with a free hand, then pushed at the strange feeling at the pit of her stomach that had dropped there like a heavy lump of bleh. Once Gaara had convinced everyone about their engagement, the faster her mission was going to be a success. It was plain as day that she should be happy for him; the events have been stressful enough for the man, and she knew that it would relieve him a lot if all of this was over faster.

Gaara was blinking up at her owlishly, and contrary to what she thought, he didn't even look as happy as he should. He let go of her hand after a moment, and he looked down at the table dumbly, not saying anything.

Ino took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the bleh feeling in her gut. She clasped her clammy hands together uneasily as she stared down at Gaara, not knowing what else to do. Because the truth of the matter was, once Gaara had talked to his council members and convinced them to get rid of the remaining women in the tower, then her mission was over.

_Gaara wouldn't need me anymore. _

She swallowed hard. It was over. She had made a good enough impression faster than the client expected. Naruto would be proud. _She _should be proud.

But Gaara didn't look happy.

And she… well… she _sort of _didn't feel… happy. Perhaps it was because she was actually enjoying herself getting to know the man? Or perhaps it was her misplaced sense of heroism in trying to help him with… things? The Yamanaka in her was telling her that there was still so much to uncover in Gaara.

_That has nothing to do with you. You're getting too involved into matters that don't concern you. _

She shook herself and hurriedly plastered a wide smile on her face. "You'll be up early tomorrow morning for your meeting. I'll get everything ready, and then you can shower, and we can rest," she said cheerfully. She pushed away from the table to the counter.

And that was when it all happened.

She felt herself waver, the earth tilted a good forty-five degrees to the left, in the background she could hear the kettle whistling violently, protesting that it was time for tea. And then Gaara was holding her, and she was sinking, and she could see his blurred face looking down at her in shock and worry, his mouth opening to silent words she couldn't hear.

And then everything went blank.

* * *

Ino knew she was laid in bed after having collapsed in the kitchen. It felt like a few hours of a whirlwind of voices and familiar and unfamiliar faces poking at her while she lay. What she could remember of that was a blur of snippets of a man – someone other than Gaara – peering down at her with a small pen light and saying something about poison needles and isolating it and everything being all right. Everything faded to a watercolor of faces including Temari and Kankurou's, all inside the room a few feet away from her. They were talking and she could hear a bit of what they were saying.

"… senbon to the thigh. Three of them."

"Why didn't you take her to the infirmary?"

"She wouldn't let me. She said she could handle it."

"Gaara's… not happy."

"He's never happy."

"That's funny, because I've never seen him happier before _she _came."

"Don't go there, Kankurou."

"Just saying. Just saying is all. Can't you tell? He's… it's like he's… _fixed_."

"You speak as if he was broken to begin with."

"He _was _broken. And you know it as well as I do." There was a pose. "Don't you think so?"

More silence. Then, "That's not for us to decide."

And Ino blacked out again.

When consciousness slipped back to her, she couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear more voices. A man and a woman were talking. Who were they?

"You should get some rest, too."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look troubled. You look angry."

"None of this would be happening if you didn't let them fight each other."

"How many times do I have to tell you, it was her idea. For the past week, I've tried telling her to stop accepting their challenges, but she says it's the easier way to make them realize she wasn't about to back down on a fight for you." Silence. Then, "She plays the role well, Gaara."

"Of course she does. She is from Konoha."

"She – you both – you have everyone fooled."

"That was the point of all this."

More silence. Then, "Everyone except yourselves."

"Leave."

"Gaara – "

"Don't, Temari. I've had enough of that from Kankurou already. Let's not give her more to worry about. She's… she doesn't deserve this. Not this. She deserves better."

And Ino was out like a light again. When she woke up fully, she couldn't remember anything of those talks, and what she _did_ remember, she blamed it on delirium.

* * *

She woke up to the darkness and she had to blink away the traces of lethargy to see in the minimal light of the bed room. The first thing she saw was the ceiling above her. Her dimensions were still pretty messed up, and the ceiling looked farther than it usually was. She turned to the side, and blinked at what she saw.

It was Gaara, and he was sitting on a chair he must have pulled from the kitchen. He had looked up from his lap the moment she had stirred, and he was looking down at her with those indecipherable eyes of his that seemed to slightly glow in the darkness. He had his long legs crossed, and clutched in his hand was a wet towel.

Ino couldn't find the words to break their silence. Right now, she was trying to sort everything that had happened. She had fainted. Temari and Kankurou, and another man, probably a medic, had come to see her. Those senbon she was injured with were poisoned. She tossed all those facts around her head, and after a while her eyes widened at the memory of something more important than poisoned needles.

"Dinner!" she choked out as she tried to get up.

Gaara was instantly beside her, helping her sit upright on the bed. "You don't have to think about that right now," he said quietly as he settled down on the side of the bed beside her, towel forgotten on the chair.

Ino shook her head, and she brushed back the strands of her bangs away from her face. "No, you still have to wake up early tomorrow for your important meeting. It'll be quick, you just – "

"The meeting is over," Gaara interrupted.

Ino stared at him like he was crazy. _"What?"_

"It was over twelve hours ago."

Ino wilted instantly. "Wait, what? That can't be right."

"You were poisoned last night," Gaara said weakly, accusingly as if saying _'and you didn't tell me'_. "You collapsed in the kitchen and you were out the whole day today. Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

Ino shook her head in disbelief. "I was? I mean… " She gave Gaara an expectant look. "How was the meeting?"

Gaara shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I didn't attend."

Ino's jaw dropped open and took a while to actually process that in her pre-poisoned state of a brain. After finally recovering from the shock, she asked, "Why on earth did you do such a thing?"

Gaara lips thinned, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "You were alone here. You were injured, and you had a fever."

"But…" she sputtered. "But the meeting! It was a very important meeting! Right? That was your chance!"

Gaara started to frown, his forehead wrinkling. "You needed someone to look out for you."

"But the council – "

"I don't care."

"Oh, you don't care!" Ino said, nearly laughing in frustration. She pushed the covers off of her, paused a bit as she looked down at herself. "I'm wearing my pajamas." She turned to Gaara, the worst possible scenario running away with her. "Why am I wearing my pajamas?"

"I thought you would be more comfortable with pajamas on," Gaara said slowly. He had the decency to stand up from the bed and stare down at her warily.

"You stuffed me in my pajamas?" Ino's cheek twitched.

"I did it without looking," Gaara said defensively. "It wasn't easy."

She could not believe this. She hopped out of bed, wobbled a bit and brushed Gaara's hand when he tried to help her. "You skipped your important meeting for me. Don't touch me."

Gaara looked like he was close to actually being hurt by her rebuff. "Why are you angry at me?"

Ino staggered towards the door of the bedroom and flung it open. The bright light from the living room made her squint. "You tell me."

"I… I don't understand."

Ino felt herself shake from disbelief, and she hobbled her way out to their still very bare living room. It still smelled of curry she had made yesterday night. She wondered for a brief moment if Gaara had eaten last night, and his breakfast and lunch. She shook her head. She doubted it. Gaara wouldn't eat if she didn't _make_ him food. For some reason, that fact irritated her even more.

Gaara followed her out to the living room, making sure to keep a distance from her. "What did I do wrong?" he asked.

Ino's hands twitched and she balled them into a fist. Was he really asking her what was wrong? Seriously? She turned to him. "You don't _know?"_

"You're mad at me for not attending the meeting?"

"Yes, I am! Gaara, that was _the _chance! We could have finally gotten rid of the remaining daughters today if you had attended! This mission would have been a success already!"

The frown was back on his face. "You were running a high fever. The medic said someone had to stay and look after you."

"You could have asked Temari or Kankurou to look after me!"

"And everything we've tried to establish as betrothed would have been gone with the wind with me abandoning you when you needed me the most."

"Don't make it sound like I'm a helpless little girl! I can handle myself. Why do you have to worry about me so much? You've been like that for two goddamn weeks, _worrying _because you think I might get upset if you don't come home on time. Or… or _worrying _because I might think you're prioritizing your work too much and ignoring me. Or like last night, worrying about a stupid fever when you know you have a very, very crucial meeting to attend to. And you completely ditched that to sit there and watch me sleep?"

Gaara was suddenly taken aback by her rage. Ino herself did not know why she was so frustrated with everything about the man all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because she was finally seeing the truth behind so many things about him that was making her angry. The past two weeks had been more than an eye opener for her. And she was finally getting the gist of at least half of Gaara's problems; _he liked making problems on his own. _

"Is that the only reason why you're so mad at me? The meeting's over. What else do you want me to do?" Gaara demanded, even he was losing his cool, and as he always did when he tried to run away from things, or close himself away, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Look at you! You're everything you've always wanted to be, and you lost yourself along the way to gain respect from a village that's been walking all over you for fourteen freaking years! And are you happy? Are you happy with _this?" _she asked wildly.

Gaara did not say anything, and if anything that fueled Ino's anger more.

"For the past two weeks I've heard of things concerning you, and I felt bad about a lot of that, and I've tried my ultimate _best_ to make things easier for you, even for just a month. Why is it you have to worry so much about me? It's my job to serve you! That's the reason why I'm here in the first place!"

Gaara opened his mouth after Ino's outburst. "Because it's what a fiancé would do."

Ino threw her hands up in the air. "That's really great, Gaara. _If this were a real relationship! _But it's not! Why do you… goddammit!" She tried a different approach. She stepped towards him. "You know what I think? You wanna know what started this whole mission to begin with?"

"Apparently, _you _do. Enlighten me," Gaara drawled, uncharacteristically cold towards her.

"Sure. Are you ready? I'll start by enumerating a few of the many faults that you have. One, you have a very twisted concept about relationships. While it is normal to have arranged marriages within any ninja village even in this present time, you make it sound like being joined in holy matrimony would forever bind you to a lifetime of babying and pampering your wife, giving everything you love and believe in to make her happy.

"Two, you are scared of the fact that you won't be able to live up to that concept – and to tell you honestly, no man in this dimension could! – that you ask your buddy Naruto to save you from the inevitable downfall of your romantic married life fantasy by hiring _me_ to keep you from getting hitched!" She took a deep breath, not even caring if Gaara understood what she was saying or not.

"Three, you complain about the council, and the decisions they make for you when you don't even try to stand up more for yourself because you've set up rules back when you were fifteen or sixteen years old that you refuse to break. Love letters and fan mail in your important documents? Give me a break! You could easily break the rules you made back then because, duh! You're the most powerful man in the village and you could just smother them with your sand if they tried to be mutinous. But _noooo! _You do everything by yourself, even when you're practically _dying _because of it. You hardly eat, you _never _sleep! And all of that is for the name of the village! You're a people-pleaser! Which is ironic, because you never even stop to try to please yourself!

"Four, you love human interaction. Heck, you love to cuddle in bed, but you keep everyone at arms' length and have them fearing you with that cold attitude of yours. You have girls liking you left and right, but you never even _once_ tried to build a relationship with any of them. And the only reason you actually found out that you love human touch is because I had to _force _you to sleep beside me! You're twenty nine years old! Get a girlfriend! _Get laid!_ Have fun without trying to weigh in the consequences that you think would ruin the order of the universe because you'd stop for five minutes and think about yourself!"

Gaara was unmoving as Ino went on. He was always really good at listening to people, and seldom contributed to any of their conversations. That was why it surprised Ino when the man started to talk.

"It looks like you have me all figured out," he drawled, those hands still tight across his chest. He looked very wound up. "I'm not going to make any excuses for myself. I know you're just going to brush away the fact that I can never be like you, or like Naruto or anyone in the Leaf that you know. But since you make it look like I never try to stand up for myself, I might as well tell you." He narrowed his eyes at her. "One, I've never had _'twisted concepts' _of relationships until the subject of marriage came along, which was a year ago. I never thought about it much, and I never really cared about it. The thought of pampering my wife – if ever I do get married, which I doubt – was not a 'concept' to me. It was a 'dream'. When the council told me they needed me to find a bride, I imagined it in my head that I would make her the happiest woman alive, never make her regret that she married me, so that one day, she'd tell me _'I'm glad I said yes.'_ From that dream, arranged marriages were already out of the question. I had wanted her to _choose _me. I wanted her to have that chance to say no, but she'd say yes anyway because she _wanted _me. Loving her and pampering her was – _is _– something I would want to do for her because I _want_ to.

"Two, yes I am scared stiff of the fact that I wouldn't live up to my own standards. When the council arranged to have women over for me to choose, I was so scared I wanted to run like a fool away from here. Because I knew I wasn't half the man I wanted myself to be. These women had come here by choice, and all of them wanted me, but for a reason that was not what I wanted them to have. A colony relation is important, but I wanted a woman who would look _beyond _that. None of them fit. I know none of them _would_ fit. That's why I asked Naruto for help. And he sent _you_." For a brief moment, Gaara's face softened, and his shoulders sagged. "You don't know how much I regret this."

_What? What did he mean by that?_

"You go out of your way for me when you don't even need to. All you needed to do was act as my fiancée when everyone was looking. But here you are, making me food, and tea, and…" he flushed slightly before regaining composure. "And everything a man could ever want. I'm very sorry."

Ino felt indignation flare up inside her. She knew that in normal circumstances, she would have brushed it aside and told him that it was okay, but having him _apologize_ for having her here was… _insulting_. He was _regretting _having her here. For the past two weeks, he had led her to believe that he liked having her around. In the days they were together, she actually thought Gaara _appreciated_ her doing those things for him.

"Oh. Well," Ino said, mimicking him by crossing her own arms over her chest. "Well, I'm just sorry to have _inconvenienced_ you by making you dinner and making you _feel_ bad about doing those things for you. If you had just told me sooner, I would have just let you starve."

Gaara looked confused, his arms loosening as if to extend his arms towards her. "What? No, that's not what I meant…"

Ino laughed mirthlessly, stepping away. "Next time, when you ask Naruto for help, put in the specifics of what you actually want your woman to be, so he sends you someone fit for the job."

It seemed that what Ino said had brought back the anger in Gaara. His arms were back across his chest, his invisible barrier raised between them again. "Opposite to what you think of my fears of relationships, I just thought of it now. _This_ is what I don't want in a relationship," he snapped. "You make it look like this is all about me. I've had everyone make a big deal of what I am since I was born. _You_ making it seem like I'm sad and lonely and don't know what to do with my life makes it worse. I wanted to think about you more than myself, that's why I'm worried. You don't have to make it look like I'm the one who needs protecting."

Ino bit her lip guiltily. He had hit the nail on the head there. Admit it or not, she had been trying to protect him because she thought he needed it. But still… he had compromised her mission in convincing the council because he decided to play the doting husband. She turned away from him, not knowing what else to say.

Gaara turned away from her, too. "You've only been here for two weeks. Don't act as if you know me. You _don't_. No one knows who I am."

And that was probably the last straw. Ino shook her head, walked across the living room away from him. "You know what? You're right. I don't know you. I just thought I did. Now we get to be stuck with each other until they hold _another_ meeting, which is I hope sooner than later. Since, you know, I don't want to inconvenience you any more than this." Ino grabbed the knob of their front door and yanked it open. "You've sacrificed a very important meeting just to tend to me, and I hope you know what you're doing, because if they still don't let you go after a month, I'm leaving you anyway. Because that was our agreement. Do you hear?"

Gaara was still standing there, his back to her. Those arms of his were now dangling loose at his sides, his shoulders relaxed. He didn't say anything to her. It pissed her off that he could still be this calm when she was already having a fairly hard time at accepting the fact that he had just missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

"Do you really want to end this mission that badly?" he suddenly spoke just when Ino had started out the door.

Ino paused in mid- stride, bringing her eyes up to watch his unmoving form still staring at the uninteresting wall of his living room, then said, "It's stressing us both, and we're starting to get into each other's nerves. We should stop talking while we're both ahead. I'm going out for a while."

Gaara turned around to face her. There was that unsure look on his handsome face, his eyes betraying that he hadn't slept a wink while watching over her throughout the day and night. "Ino," he started.

"What?" Ino asked warily, her hands tightening around the knob.

"We're already getting along bad enough. Why don't we just get married?"

Ino stared at him as if he had sprouted horns. For a moment she sputtered a few random words, her brain failing her. She felt her face heat up a few degrees, which she was absolutely sure didn't have anything to do with her fever earlier. Her eyes examined Gaara's placid face, the resigned way his eyelids drooped sleepily, the messy red hair hiding majority of his forehead except for the conspicuous mark on top of his left eye. His arms looked out of place by his sides.

Once again, Ino felt her temper get the best of her. This was no time to kid around. He had just messed up her mission's success rate. He did _not_ have the right to make stupid jokes! She shook her head irritably. "Screw you," and she stepped out into the cool night, and slammed the door behind her.

She stalked away from their house with no specific place to go to. It took her a good five minutes to realize she had stepped out of the house still in her pajamas.

_Crap._

* * *

**A/N: That's it. I'm changing the genre for this fic. I just can't stick to humor anymore. The story's got a mind of its own. Eep! What have I done?**

**Anyway, here's the update. A little shorter than my usual chapters, but I just couldn't drag their fight too long. It hurts my heart just thinking of Gaara wanting to say things but not knowing how to, and Ino's just too hotheaded to listen.**

**Now, because you guys have been amazing, let me tell you something about myself; YUUGIRI LOVES CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Your reviews – all of them – matter to me so much as a writer, and I value every single one of them _more_ when you point out my mistakes. Really! Since I don't have a beta of my own, and I just proofread my work by myself, there are times when I would miss a lot of things that could actually ruin the flow of the story. So when a reviewer named Felix02 told me a few of the mistakes I had in my previous chapter, I went back and corrected them immediately! Thank you! Don't ever think of yourself horrible for being kind enough as to point out these mistakes. If you guys spot mistakes, and it bothers you, don't hesitate to tell me. So long as you… uh… don't flame me. Coz… yeah… then I'd have to hunt you down and shoot you for scattering negative energy. Yuugiri hates negativity.**

**So there. **

**To those who are still with me up until now, thank you. Four more chapters to go!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Ino did not know exactly what time it was, but from the eastern parapet of the clay and stone wall surrounding Suna, she could see a bit of light in the horizon. Sunrise was undoubtedly a few hours away. It was surprising. That meant she had been sitting on that same spot of that parapet for over eight hours. She might have fallen asleep a few minutes at a time. She wasn't sure. All thought had fled her the moment she walked out on Gaara after their fight.

She had shouted at the Kazekage. She had walked out on her _client_. God.

The mere thought of it made her head hurt. The fact that she was wearing nothing but flimsy sleeping wear was not helping.

The adult in her said she had overreacted. She hadn't meant to explode at Gaara like that, even if she justified it with the reason that the man had practically sabotaged her shortcut to success with this mission. In the span of her eight or so hours on that cold stone parapet, she had thought many times of going back home and apologizing to the man.

But the womanly pride in her said that she most definitely wasn't at fault here.

_I mean, the reason why he needed me in the first place was because he needed to convince those people that his heart's already set to marry the woman of his choice. _

Ino pulled at her bangs in frustration. Gaara didn't know how to prioritize. He had admitted that to her once or twice in the last two weeks she had been there. He had sacrificed his chance – _their_ chance – at ending this lunacy prematurely because he thought it was the better option to stay with her until she got better.

_What an idiot. _

She closed her eyes, and Gaara's confused face popped into her mind's eye. He had been completely unaware what he had just done. No wonder he was so easy to push around; he was just oblivious of the obvious! Sure, she could have preferred to sit him down and calmly discussed things patiently with him as she had done many times before, but it was starting to get frustrating; he was worried about her too much that it had started to compromise so many things that mattered to her mission. It was as if…

_It was as if my presence compromises his normal routine._

God forbid she messed things up in the Sand single-handedly. Naruto would have her _hanged_.

She sighed. The truth was she just didn't want to be a burden to him. He was already having a hard time finding himself, and she wanted him to worry about _that _more than anything else. She wanted him to think of himself more.

But instead, he was thinking more of her feelings than his.

Well, admittedly, she thought it was sweet.

_Eh?_

Ino paused at the thought, then scolded herself for being unprofessional. She had let her feelings get the better of her, and she hadn't really expected herself to react so violently, especially when deep down inside, she tried to mask the tiny – so tiny she almost even didn't notice it herself – spark of relief she had felt when she learned that Gaara hadn't attended the meeting. Because that meant…

_That meant he would still need me around. _

She slapped herself hard on one cheek. That hadn't been a good thought. For a minute there, she actually came close to thinking she was happy at the possibility she could stay a little longer.

That's ridiculous. _Absolutely_ ridiculous.

She felt her face grow hot, and she pressed her cold, shaky fingers to her cheeks. What on earth was wrong with her? Was this what getting poisoned twice in two weeks did to one's reasoning?

"There you are."

Ino looked up when she heard a female voice come from the spiral staircases of the parapet. It was Temari. She had a cloak wrapped around her shoulders, and another one in one hand. In her other hand was an aluminum canteen.

Ino bit her lip at the sight of the woman. It was not as if she was hiding from anyone, and so it did not shock her that Temari had found her. It was most probably Gaara who had sent her. And with the way her eyes were twinkling in amusement, she must have heard what had happened last night.

"Here. He said you ran off in your jammies," she said as she reached her side, sat down on the floor beside her and handed her the extra cloak she had with her. "And here's some tea, because he said you must want one in the morning." She placed the canteen in front of Ino.

Ino stared at the object as she wrapped her cloak around her gratefully. "Thank you," she muttered, feeling a bit foolish.

"Don't thank me. It was Gaara who came knocking on my door at five in the morning. He said he wanted me to look for you and give you these."

Ino frowned. "He told you about last night?"

Temari shrugged. "To tell you honestly, he had _no_ idea what just happened. He told me the gist of what he thought he understood, though, at least. He skipped the meeting. You got mad and then left. He never tells me everything in detail." She turned to Ino and smiled sympathetically. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ino picked the canteen up and pressed it to her cheek. It was warm. If it was Gaara who made this tea, then it was definitely chamomile. She sighed tiredly. "I think… I think I may have said too much to him. I think I may have hurt his feelings."

"Why _did_ you get mad in the first place?" Temari asked curiously. "By the look on your face, it has to do about something other than the meeting he skipped."

Ino suddenly felt very uncomfortable as she kept the canteen pressed on her face. She couldn't look at the older woman. She didn't even know why. "A part of me was really mad at him because he didn't attend the meeting, Temari. Because… well, you know, it's the main reason why I'm here. He hired me to convince the council that we're engaged, and get rid of the women he doesn't want to marry. Yesterday's meeting was that chance. And he blew it."

"There will be other meetings. Your contract is for a month," Temari pointed out.

"I know that," Ino said, sinking lower on the ground against the wall of the parapet, and hid the lower half of her face into her collar as she touched the canteen to her forehead.

"Then why get mad? That doesn't sound like you at all."

Ino struggled for the answer to that. The truth sounded so… embarrassing to say out loud. "I… "

"You…?"

Ino blushed and was glad she had her face hidden in her cloak. "I… "

"You got scared about something, didn't you?"

Ino's lips thinned. Was that the right description for this feeling? She didn't know. She had started shouting at Gaara about his faults all of a sudden. She started asking herself the reason why she had done so in the first place.

Temari shifted in her place, ducked her head to peer into her face. Ino grudgingly met her eyes. "A part of you was glad he stayed, right?"

Ino looked away. "I thought it was nice of him to have stayed and taken care of me, yeah. I guess I was glad. Just a little."

"Then what's the problem?" she asked.

Ino blanched in her cloak. "There's no problem."

"Seems like there is, since you ran off in the middle of the night in your pajamas. He was worried about you."

That was what got Ino started. "There! That's the problem! That's the problem right there! He's _worried_ about me. _He's always worried about me_."

Temari was confused. "And that's a bad thing?"

Ino dropped the canteen and sat forward so suddenly that Temari had to back away a bit. "Temari, your brother worries more about me than he worries about himself. _When he shouldn't be worried at all!_ That meeting he was supposed to attend to was obviously more important, but – "

"Wait a minute," Temari suddenly said, raising her hands in front of her. "Let me get this straight. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but you're telling me you want Gaara to worry more of _himself_ than others?"

"Yes."

"And this is because you want him to… er… think more of himself?"

"Yes! _Thank you!"_ Ino cried happily.

Temari frowned more. "Then I don't get it."

Ino's mouth snapped to a close before asking, "_What_ don't you get?"

"I don't know. I guess the fact that you seem to contradict what you're saying." Temari placed both her hands on Ino's shoulders and pushed her away from her. "Taking care of you was what he wanted to do, even if he knew that he'd compromise everything else. Don't you see? While he'd normally sacrifice everything for the village, as he's always done ever since he became the Kage of Suna, here he is, doing everything on a whim for_ you_. And you get mad at him for it."

"I… well… I… " Ino sputtered. "He doesn't have to."

"But he _wants _to," Temari said pointedly. "Look, Ino. Gaara, he's… different from us. He never got that opportunity to be vocal about his feelings like us. And although there are times he would try his best to articulate what he's feeling, everyone just tends to misunderstand him, and so he thought it was easier if he just followed and not say anything at all. He would never ask for help, because he thinks it's faster to do things by himself than spend an enormous amount of time trying to explain to people what he wants done. I guess that's why he never got an assistant. Perhaps communicating with one would just stress him out more."

Ino listened to Temari as she continued staring down at her lap.

"It takes time for him to voice out his thoughts into words, so most of the time you'd wonder if he's really listened to anything you've said, but trust me, he _listens_. Composing a reply is what's hard for him to do. Maybe you've noticed it? He always pauses before he talks."

Ino nodded. "Yeah… " And that instant, she felt really guilty. Perhaps if she had stayed, and listened to him, maybe she would have understood what he wanted to do. Temari was right; she was contradicting herself. Here, Gaara had decided on doing what he wanted to do, and here she was, blowing up in front of him because _she_ wanted _him_ to do what _she_ thought was better.…

She shook her head. "Oh, Temari. I'm so sorry. I messed up. I didn't mean to walk out on him last night. It's just… "

"Why _were _you so angry then?" Temari asked, and she stared at Ino steadily.

Ino shrugged helplessly. "One of the things he said that really made me mad was that he was sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"He said that he's sorry because I do things that I don't have to do."

"Err… like, fight rabid women away from him?"

"No. Like, cook dinner," Ino spat. "And make him tea and according to him, _'__everything a man could ever want'_. He actually had the nerve to apologize for _'making'_ me do those things. I did those because I thought it was the kind thing to do."

"Maybe he felt bad about having you do those things for him," Temari said rationally. She kept on staring at Ino. "Are you absolutely, positively _sure_ that that's the reason why you're mad at him?"

Ino tucked her bangs behind her ear. "I… don't know. Before I lost consciousness, we were fine and talking. And then when I woke up, he was there telling me that he didn't attend the meeting, and I was… I was _happy._"

"Happy?"

"… Yeah."

_Oh… crap…_

She shook her head in disbelief as if saying out loud had made it clear for her. She had a hand on her head in horror. "God… "

Temari's eyebrows were climbing her forehead gradually. "What?"

"Oh, God…!"

_"What? What?"_

She wasn't a Yamanaka for nothing. And while she had spent almost her whole life training for human assessing and mind-probing, it was the first time she had actually tried to analyze what was in her own head.

Temari was smiling at her knowingly, as if she already knew. She reached out and gave Ino a half-hug. "Shikamaru told me you were too proud for your own good." She smiled as she looked over her shoulder where the sun had started peeking over the horizon. "He said you covered embarrassment with violence, and your weakness with anger. And he also said that you had a strange fixation on protecting the men in your life."

Ino grabbed her mess of a head with both hands. That was the light bulb moment of the millennium. She hid her face when Temari gave her shoulders a final squeeze before letting her go. "Shikamaru also said something very interesting once. He said that because you think it's your job to take care of your men, you don't like it when _they _take care of _you_."

Ino swallowed hard. She hadn't really thought Shikamaru talked about her to Temari at all, but the knowledge somehow showed her that her teammate knew more of her than he'd ever let on. Having been bestowed the heavy responsibility of being the level-headed member of Team Ten at the premature death of Sarutobi Asuma, perhaps it was her fault to have taken his dying words too much heart. What Shikamaru said about her was so spot-on that it embarrassed her.

Embarrassment with violence.

Weakness with Anger.

_She had been weak. _

And she had lashed out on Gaara because she was weak.

"Do you see the pattern here?" Temari asked. "_He's _thinking too much about _you_, and _you're_ thinking too much about _him_. Sounds like a horror story to me." She laughed jokingly.

Oh, she saw it. She saw it pretty darned well.

Ino swallowed hard. "I think I like him."

The older woman nearly fell to the floor. _"What?" _she sputtered.

It took a full minute before Ino realized she had said it out loud, and that was when she started to panic. She grabbed Temari's arm roughly. "You will tell _no one_, or I will kill you. I have a big clan, and many friends. And we will kill you if you tell anyone."

Temari's eyes were round with an expression Ino couldn't very well decipher because of her own distress that she had mouthed one of the very big no-no's in a ninja's life. "Ino… you…! Are you _serious?"_

Ino scrambled to her feet. The sun was rising, and normally she would have appreciated that beauty, but right now, her head was buzzing. "Temari, no, really. Forget what I said. It's really nothing. Lack of sleep, poisoned twice. You know how it is. I'm not going to compromise anything, I swear. I'll run back home and apologize to him and complete the mission as best I could, and I won't create a stir, just please, don't tell him… I don't want him to… " She covered her face with a hand, shook her head then turned to Temari again. "We both know how he is with women. And I don't want to scare him…"

The shock on Temari's face was replaced with… What reaction is that? _Amusement?_

She raised her hands in front of her, nodding vigorously. "Oh, sure. Not telling him because, yeah, we just don't want to scare him. I mean, you liking him _is_ the scariest thing there is, right?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Are you mocking me?"

Temari shook her head as she got up from the floor and dusted her behind, then collected the forgotten canteen. "Mocking you? No, no. Absolutely not. I was just surprised, because Kankurou and I were talking about it. We thought you really played the fiancée part very well. And I'm actually glad to see Gaara warming up to you, to think it's been but half a month." The amused look was once again gone, then she gave Ino a small smile. "You really like him?"

Ino felt her face heat up, and she tightened her hold on the collar of her cloak. Did she really like him? _Did she really like him? _What kind of question was that? Here she was, trying her best to cook because she wanted to see him enjoy eating. Here she was, embracing him while he slept, and waking him up in the morning and _loving _it! Here she had run away in her pajamas, because she had been in denial and did not want Gaara to know that she had been _happy_ that he'd stayed with her when she knew she shouldn't be happy at all.

Oh, she liked him, all right.

But she was Ino, and she was a perfectionist when it came to her missions, and so she knew that _'liking'_ the client was just… _wrong_.

Even though the client was a tall, red-head with the most amazing face when he slept, and the most powerful arms that engulfed her every time they would lie down together.

Even though the client had a way with always sniffing anything and everything around him, including Ino's neck when he would tuck his head under her chin when they were in bed.

Even if he made sure to make her morning omelets just the way she liked it, and even if he wouldn't say anything when he knew for some reason she was lying.

Even if he had that adorable habit of catching her hand and bringing it to the side of his face when she would try to touch his cheek.

And not even when she knew – even though she tried to ignore it, because the thought was just too farfetched to even entertain – her heart a skipped a beat when Gaara had joked about them getting married.

Ino turned away from Temari. "It doesn't matter. After I clear this mission, nothing would matter."

Except the fact that, yeah, it'd suck bad.

"For someone who's such an expert at seeing other people's true emotions, you sure are pretty dense when it comes to… other matters, huh?" Temari said. She did not elaborate, and instead, tossed the canteen to Ino. "It would be better if you and Gaara have a nice, long talk about what happened last night. Whatever you decide about your feelings is completely up to you, and I won't try to butt in, because I think you know what you're doing. But just remember, it takes a while for Gaara to open up, not because he's intentionally closing you off, but because he just honestly doesn't know how to reach out. If you try to coax him out of his shell just right, you might be able to get something out of it. Okay? Go home. Talk things out. You two remind me of an old married couple."

Ino sighed, looking down at the canteen in her hand, her face getting hotter still at Temari's last comment.

_"We're already getting along bad enough. Why don't we just get married?"_

Ino squeezed the canteen tight.

_Screw you…_

"I'll remember that. Thanks." And she set off slowly towards their house, feeling light and heavy at the same time.

* * *

By the time Ino finally reached their front door, she had already conditioned herself and had planned what she was going to say to Gaara. First, she was going to apologize for walking out on him. And then she would make them tea, and try to compromise so that they could work around their comfort zones. She would tell him that she was not used to – and did not enjoy – having men worry about her, and politely tell him to go on with his business without minding hers too much. And then she would tell him that she would try her best not to go out of her way from now on in doing random stuff for him if it made him uncomfortable.

When she finally mustered up the courage to reach for the knob of Gaara's front door, it flew open swiftly before she could do anything and there stood Gaara, hair unusually messier than usual, and eyes blood-shot from the apparent lack of sleep. His shoulders were hunched, and the shirt he was wearing was rumpled beyond recognition from obvious attempts at rest, but was interrupted by a lot of tossing and turning.

"H-hi…" Ino greeted feebly, waving to him weakly with the hand holding the canteen.

"Hello," Gaara said hoarsely, and he stepped aside to let Ino in. He kept his eyes down on the floor, not meeting her gaze as Ino swept past him timidly, and into the living room.

All around the couch were countless papers of Gaara's work he had brought home. They could have been brought from his office last night, or they may be documents from two days ago. She wasn't sure. It was evident he hadn't been doing pretty well with them; most of the papers were crumpled if not torn or thrown inside a waiting waste basket. It was a disaster.

Ino turned to face him. He had closed their front door and was now standing awkwardly beside it, his head cast low. He looked very, very tired. In an instant, Ino felt even guiltier. Thoughts that had plagued her about seeing Gaara romantically flew out the window as she stared at the person who was more child than man. She smiled at him sadly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked out on you. We should have talked about this like sensible people. Forgive me?"

Gaara twitched in place, and he darted her a glance or two before finally staring at her directly in the eye. He gave a small nod. Ino groaned inwardly. It was like jumping back to that time two weeks ago in that meeting room, when Gaara could barely look at her, more so talk to her. She felt like the progress they've had over the days she's been there had disappeared. He was as closed off as the time he had asked her to live with him. If anything, he looked more guarded.

Ino shifted from one foot to another. "Would you like some tea?" she offered, hoping he would say yes so she would have an excuse to do something with her hands. The canteen was starting to feel incredibly heaving, and damn Gaara for not buying any furniture for the living room to place objects on when you needed to.

Gaara looked like he was weighing her offer, then after a while, he said, "Only if you want to."

"Uh… " She had forgotten that her doing stuff for Gaara was one of the arguments they had last night. It looked like he was gently treading on the topic like he would on top of eggshells. She reached out the hand that was not holding the canteen. "Let's go to the kitchen, then?"

Gaara stared at her hand with those droopy eyes of his, his fingers once again twitching before he finally extended out to her and tentatively touched her. Ino felt her breath hitch as she watched their fingers touch, as if he was trying to test the waters. Maybe it was just Ino having admitted to herself that she had started to like the man, but the small skin contact made her feel giddy. Not that fingertips were the sexiest part of the human body, but she had become ever so aware of everything about him, even the small paper cut on the side of his index finger. He slid his palm over hers, gently gripping her hand with his big one, and he nodded a small nod again.

She gave him a nervous smile and she led him to the kitchen. She noticed something the moment she entered. Everything that she had left hanging that night when she had lost consciousness because of the poison was cleaned, washed and left to dry on the pantry. The sink was dry, and the only thing that was out of place was the kettle, which Gaara probably used to boil water to make the tea inside the canteen she had placed on top of the table.

"I cleaned up," Gaara explained when he noticed her looking very surprised. "I ate the curry you made, and there was still some to spare. It's in the freezer. Temari said you can freeze curry…" He looked down at their clasped hands uncertainly. "It was delicious."

Ino tore her eyes away from the sink, and also looked down at their clasped hands. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it."

Gaara was silent as he let go of her hands. It left Ino's palm unexplainably cold. Gaara pulled a chair. "Sit."

Ino gave a start. "Oh, I'll make tea. You go and – "

"_I'm _making tea," Gaara interrupted gently, and he looked over to her earnestly. "Sit."

Ino swallowed, and nodded. She took her place on the chair, and was glad that Gaara had let her sit with her back to the sink. At least she did not have to be forced to watch Gaara work around the kitchen. She could hear him filling the kettle with water, and putting it on the stove to boil. Then she could hear the _'clink-clink' _of the tea cups he pulled out from the cupboard.

Ino concentrated on looking at the canteen sitting in front her as she waited for Gaara to finish. The plan she had concocted (which she thought was fool-proof enough) was instantly forgotten, and she tried her best to recall how it went. Gaara moving around behind her was not helping. If anything, every time he would create a sound from bumping something on something, she would jump a bit on her chair.

Him sneaking up from behind her was the final straw. She let out a strangled yelp when Gaara placed his hands on her shoulders from behind. From her frightened reaction, Gaara pulled back instantly. Then when he saw Ino relax, he replaced his hands back on her and…

And were his thumbs kneading her shoulders?

Ino swallowed. _Crap. _

"I lost my temper," Gaara started. "I shouldn't have done that."

That was the last thing Ino had expected from him. As far as she could think of, the fight had been her fault because she didn't want to believe that she was happy that he had sabotaged her mission for her. And as far as she could remember, Gaara had been all cool and calm while she had screamed her face out to him. Was that how he _'lost his temper'? _

_He relatively talks a lot when he loses his temper, _Ino thought. _Not a bad habit. _

"I made you feel unappreciated by apologizing to you when I should have just said 'thank you'. Your cooking _does _make me happy. It wasn't – isn't – an inconvenience." Gaara paused. Ino could feel him take a deep breath from behind her, his lean stomach pressing gently on the back of her head. "I'm sorry. I mean, thank you. I mean… " He was at a loss for words now.

Ino shook her head, and she felt her ponytail snag at the buttons of his rumpled shirt. While this would have normally annoyed the heck out of her, she couldn't even raise her head and reach out to untangle her hair from the offending things. "Just so you know, Gaara, I think I was the one who overreacted. To tell you honestly, I _like _making you dishes. You know that time when I asked you if you enjoy over-working, and you said that it gives you a sense of purpose? That's kind of what I feel."

_And the fact that I like watching you while you eat, 'cause you, like, look freaking adorable… _

Gaara must have realized she was uncomfortable, and the hands on her shoulders moved to her ponytail. His fingers started to work with her hair, gently weaving his fingers through the strands to unknot them from his shirt button. "I was too selfish, asking you to cook this and that. And you didn't even complain. Thank you."

Ino closed her eyes as she let Gaara free her hair from his button, and smiled, although she knew he couldn't see her face. "You can request anything you want for today. Think of it as trying to make up for being unreasonable. I was mad at you because of you skipping the meeting, but I know that wasn't our last chance. There would be more meetings, more chances. And I promise you I'd make sure they'll be leaving you alone before the month is up."

Gaara's fingers paused for a second before he went on with his work. "You… you can take your time. I'm in no hurry…"

Something inside Ino started to stir, and her eyes popped open. She didn't want to take her time, really. With the way her mind was getting away with her, she was actually hoping to get everything over and done with, pack her bags and leave the Sand. Being around this man was winding her up more than she'd like, and she knew she had to get away from him before it was too late. Well, a part of her thought that, at least.

_I mean, wouldn't it be funny if I fell in love with him?_

Ino scowled outwardly.

_That would be hilarious. _

The kettle whistling brought her back to reality. Gaara had succeeded in untangling her hair from him, and was instantly busy with making their tea. Ino spent this short time to compose herself.

When Gaara had placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her and was now seated across the table from her holding his own, she was already decently calmer, and the tea helped a lot.

"I talked to Temari," Ino started. "And she made me realize that there was a lot of miscommunication between us last night. And since we're going to be stuck with each other for another two weeks at most, I thought maybe we should clear things about us to prevent last night from happening again."

Gaara had his tea cup in both hands, his nose hovering over it to smell its warm aroma. He nodded. "I think that's a good idea." His eyes darted to her before once again lowering it to his tea. He took a tentative sip.

Ino couldn't even look at him for longer than three seconds. She busied herself with tracing the mouth of her cup with her index finger. "Uhm. I guess I should start, then."

But where do you start when you've blurted out so many things to him last night that you practically don't even remember?

She cleared her throat. "About what I said about you… uhm, worrying too much about me. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I should have told you first-hand that I wasn't used to being worried over like that. I should have known better than accuse you of underestimating me." She stopped rubbing the cup with her finger and looked up. Gaara was staring back at her. She quickly ducked her head.

"I never – not even once – underestimated you. Your skill as a kunoichi wasn't the reason I was worried." Gaara opened his mouth to continue, frowned, then shook his head. There was a long pause, then, "I won't worry too much from now on," he finished lamely.

Ino smiled at him uncertainly. "And I'm sorry for misunderstanding your views on relationships and your job. It was a personal attack, and was very unprofessional of me. I acted out of bounds and assumed I knew you, when I didn't even know any better. It will never happen again."

Gaara lowered his cup to the table, and his eyes were on Ino in an instant. He was unreadable again, but there was something going on in his eyes that Ino couldn't quite put her finger on. After a while of more thinking on his part, he said, "It was an eye-opener. If anything, I needed it. You were right. I was the one who put all the rules in my life that make living it harder. I had a choice. I _have_ a choice, to change the rules, but I was too busy being _busy. _And I thought that was a good enough excuse." His face colored a bit. "It took me all night to realize that."

It surprised Ino that the man had been mauling it over his head after she had left. She had thought he would just go to his office and work his ass off, like he always did with his time. It kind of made her heart hurt a bit to learn that Gaara had been sweating over it the whole time she wasn't here. "Well, I've been thinking a lot about it myself. Temari helped me… err… realize a lot of things about last night."

"_You _made me realize so many things." Gaara lowered his eyes to his cup as well. "You're right about me keeping everyone at arms' length. It had been my choice not to settle down, not because I didn't have any options, but because I just didn't want to recognize those opportunities." He sighed. "It took me all night to realize that, too."

He did have a lot of options. It was not hard to like him, if you ignored all the broody, scary, cold aura he projected majority of the time. Or as Iwate had so lovingly termed it, _'green tea aura'_. Ino smiled painfully and she stole a glance at the man sitting in front of her. Options, right? He had a lot. "You're going to find a wonderful woman someday, Gaara. I don't doubt that. You'll get married, and everything will be wonderful. And you'll love her because she deserves it, and she'll make you the happiest man in the world because _you_ deserve it."

Gaara met her eye. The serious expression on his face was replaced with something else. His hands were idly resting on either side of his cup and his mouth was slightly open, as if wanting to say something. He closed it immediately, and then looked away. The patch of forehead Ino could make out from between his disheveled hair was wrinkling in confusion. Confusion over what, Ino couldn't tell. Then she remembered that Gaara wasn't used to talking about women and his possible future with one.

Not really knowing how to feel about this trait of his (she was already cursing his future-wife from her seat) she took her cup between her hands and took a sip. When she found it wasn't as hot, she downed it all in one gulp. She replaced the cup back on the table and flattened her palms on it. She glanced at the window which was getting relatively brighter, then at the clock. "What say I prepare breakfast, you shower and get ready for work?" She smiled.

Gaara looked up with a start. "I was… I was planning on staying home today."

Ino's smile froze on her face. She asked the first question that popped in her mind. "Why?"

Gaara shrugged wordlessly.

"Are you sick?" she asked.

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "… No."

Ino was confused. "What's the matter?"

Gaara quietly kept on staring at her. He sat up straighter in his chair before saying, "I brought everything home last night. I didn't know what time you would be home, and I didn't want to miss it when you got back so I hauled everything here." He hesitated. "I tried to do a bit of work while waiting for you, but it didn't turn out good."

Well, that explained the messy living room. She swallowed. "You're not going to your office today?"

He nodded. "I'll be working in the living room, if that's all right."

Ino paused, then pointed to the counter. "Do you… want breakfast, then?"

"I'm not really hungry. Are you?"

Ino bit her lower lip before saying, "Not really. Actually," she grinned shyly. "I'd like to catch a few winks… "

Gaara blinked, met her eye, looked away hurriedly. "I haven't slept all night, either." He flushed slightly, scratching the back of his neck.

Ino swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, and she clenched and unclenched her hands nervously. Lying down with Gaara before she actually admitted to herself she _'sort of' _liked him had been nothing. But now that she had started to acknowledge that annoying fact…

_Crap, crap, crap._

"Would you… " she started, gesturing at Gaara weakly. "Would you like to sleep for a few hours?"

_Crraaaapppp… !_

Gaara was too fast in nodding his head. He stood up from his chair, forgetting his tea, walked around the table, grabbed Ino's hand and before she could even react to what was happening, she found herself getting dragged out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.

Ino stood in the middle of the room, her ears buzzing. Gaara had closed the door behind him, and both of them just stood next to each other, looking at the floor. The silence was _loud_, and it made Ino want to scream.

Gaara dropped her hand, then walked towards his side of the bed, and slipped under the sheets slowly. He looked over at Ino.

The buzzing in Ino's ear got louder, and her heart was pounding. She told herself to get a grip on herself. This was not the first time she would be sleeping next to the man. And god, she was acting like… she was acting like a virgin!

The thought made her face burn. She was _not _going there. Not going there!

"Ino," Gaara said under his breath. "Come to bed."

_Gah! _Ino stiffened in place. "Ah, yeah…" After pulling the cloak she had on and depositing it on the chair Gaara had sat on yesterday as he tended to her, she crawled onto bed, paused when Gaara pulled the sheets for her, and she shimmied comfortably under the covers, making an effort not to touch Gaara's arm accidentally. The bed suddenly seemed too small for them. It was funny. It never really bothered her before. She lay there on her back, staring at the ceiling while teaching herself how to breathe all over again.

"You're not comfortable," Gaara noted as he shifted to the side to look at her. His red hair was spilling on the pillow case. Was it always that red?

Ino inhaled, and she noticed the chamomile scent of the pillow under her head. Gaara must have changed the tea bag. The scent of it relaxed her a bit, and she decided that just because she started to realize she liked the man, it should not be the reason for her to treat him any differently when she knew Gaara didn't even know any better. She had been fine with sleeping with him until she ruined everything and decided to see him as the man that he was. Mustering up the courage while convincing herself that she was a professional kunoichi from Konoha, she rolled to her side to face Gaara.

She found herself nose-to-nose with the Kazekage, staring into those sleepy eyes of his. It took everything she had not to look away. Or worse, jump out of bed screaming. Were his eyes always this deep? And was his mouth always this… _pretty?_

Damn it. She was acting like a school girl. Like a giddy little school girl. "I'm sorry. Get over here." She opened her arms to him.

Gaara didn't hesitate as he scooted over to her. Much to her horror, he did not tuck his head under her chin, as he always did, but instead kept his face level with hers, the tip of his nose touching her own, his breath warm against her upper lip. She tried very hard not to panic. If she made the slightest of movements, she could just easily brush his lips with hers…

And god forbid they end up kissing.

No, that would be disastrous.

She was grateful that Gaara had closed his eyes, his dark-rimmed lids stark against his pale, if not slightly flushed, skin. Being this close, she could make out his dark-red lashes, against the black. One of his arms had slithered around her waist, the other hand resting lightly on her hip, and she could feel his knees pressing against her legs.

"Ino?" Gaara suddenly asked.

Ino swallowed. "Yeah?"

"Where did you go last night?"

It was a surprising question. "At the border. I didn't know why there, but it seemed to be quiet enough, and no one was there to see me in my pajamas." She let out a laugh.

The corners of Gaara's mouth turned up slightly, and he nodded his head. His nose rubbed against hers gently. "Kankurou was scolding me last night."

Ino's nose started to tingle, and she self-consciously started breathing through her mouth. "Kankurou was here?"

Gaara shook his head, this time rubbing his nose against the sides if Ino's. "I met him in the tower when I went there to collect my work to bring home."

"Oh…" Ino blinked at his still closed eyes, at the small grin on his lips, then at his nose. "You told him of our fight?"

"He was angry at me."

"Why was he angry?"

"He said I should have run after you." That was when he opened his eyes a crack, and his stare was glassy as he met Ino's blue ones. "Would you have wanted me to chase after you? He said women loved being chased."

Ino scowled, making a note to herself to give Kankurou a hefty piece of her mind later. "Did you feel like chasing after me?" she asked.

"I didn't know what to do."

"What _did _you do?"

"I was staring at the door for hours, thinking what had just happened." The hand on her hip slid up to her back and he tightened his embrace. "I was scared. I thought you weren't coming back."

Ino's eyebrows rose a bit, and for that moment she had forgotten how close he was to her, and how one of his legs had forced itself to hook around her knees. "I was in my pajamas. Of course I was coming back."

Gaara's smile widened. Ino tried to remember how many times Gaara had smiled for her. It wasn't many; he seldom smiled at all. "Thank you for coming back. Thank you for this," he said and his eyes fluttered to a close again. He took a deep, contented breath and released it through his nose. Again she felt his breath warm against her lips.

"What else did Kankurou say?" Ino asked.

"He said a lot of things. A lot, a lot. He scolded me about changing your clothes."

Could it be? A sensible advice from Kankurou?

"He told me I should have looked."

Ino slapped Gaara's arm hard. Or at least tried to. It happened in a matter of seconds, when a film of sand flew out of the gourd sitting in the corner of the room and effectively blocked her hand from touching his arm. She had almost forgotten the sand protected any form of attack directed at him. It was sort of unfair. She eyed the solid sand pressed against her palm in interest. When she relaxed her hand, the grains gently slipped through her fingers, swirling around her wrist and thumb before flying away and trickling back into his gourd.

"I think your sand just thought I wanted to kill you," Ino mused.

"I think it was flirting with you," Gaara said absent-mindedly and he pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm not really sure. It's usually never like that."

The hand that Gaara's sand "flirted with" rested on his arm, and she sighed. Kankurou was back into his old antics. She wondered what else he's been teaching Gaara while she was away.

Ino decided to ask him a neutral, diplomatic question. "What time do you want me to wake you up to start working?"

"I don't care," Gaara murmured. "When we've slept enough?"

Ino frowned. "What about work?"

"What about it?"

"You need to work, right?"

Gaara paused, then, "After our talk last night, I've decided to follow all of your advice."

Ino blinked. "My advice?"

She had blurted out so many things to him last night that she started to wonder what he was pertaining to.

"Break the rules I made. Do what I want without thinking of anything else and the consequences that may happen afterwards. I want to sleep. I think I'm in love…" he paused, then added, "With _sleep_… " One of Gaara's eyes opened and stared straight at Ino. "And cuddling."

Ino blushed then and there. "Oh. Well, if you put it that way, then we can just sleep all day, then. Unless you get hungry and we can – _nghph!"_

Gaara had suddenly pressed his mouth against hers so suddenly that Ino's whole body went rigid. His lower lip was a bit chapped, but they were warm – warmer than she thought they could be. And he tasted of tea.

One of the hands pressed against her back had made its way to the nape of her neck, tilting her head up to an angle for easier access.

Gaara was kissing her.

Gaara. Was. Kissing. Her.

_What on earth is going on here?_

Thoughts of the welcoming party, of Kankurou telling her about Gaara's fear of relationships because of issues he's had since he was a teenager flashed before her eyes, and she felt lost. So completely lost.

The kiss wasn't helping, because Gaara's mouth had slanted across her lips and the kiss deepened and fireworks exploded in Ino's head.

"What… are… what are we… doing?" she asked between kisses, feeling faint. The hand on her nape had traveled to her jaw and she slid her hand up his arm to intertwine her fingers with his.

Gaara gave her a few pecks more before pulling back with smoky eyes staring at her as if seeing her for the first time. He was breathing hard, and it took him a few seconds before he could talk. "Does this fix everything?"

Ino blinked at him, also trying to catch her breath. "Fix what? What are you talking about?"

Gaara frowned, leaned forward and took her lips again. This time, Ino didn't even bother thinking. She tore at his hair with her fingers and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. It was _that _awesome that it didn't even cross Ino's mind that she was tangled in a knot with the Kazekage, her client paying her to save him from getting hitched. She even forgot her promise to Temari to be professional about this mission. And she even forgot the possibility that Naruto could have her shot once he found out she was making out with his friend.

After an eternity (or it could have been just ten minutes, but who was counting?) Gaara pulled away again, his breathing even more ragged than earlier. His hair was sticking up in so many different places because Ino had been pulling at it so violently. "D-does that fix things?" It was the first time she heard him stutter.

Ino was too drunk from the kiss that she just grinned crookedly and nodded. "I think it has, though I'm not really sure what you're saying."

Gaara nodded, shivered, and a mess of reactions flashed through his face before he pulled her to him forcefully. "I think Kankurou's exact words were 'kiss and make up'."

The room's temperature dropped to freezing, and Ino felt petrified in Gaara's arms. "Wha – ?

"There had been times when I've always thought him shady, but I guess his advice isn't always wrong." Gaara murmured and he tucked his head under her chin, just like he's always done before when they slept. His lips were touching the sensitive skin of her throat. "Let's not fight ever again. Kissing takes my breath away… "

Ino heard her jaw crack. So, here Kankurou had been giving Gaara advice on apologizing. She will have to sit Gaara down for a long lesson in semantics.

"I'll kill him…" she hissed.

"Kill who?" Gaara asked quietly, uncaringly.

"You'll know when you see the body."

* * *

**A/N: I'm very sorry about last chapter. I made Ino come across as unreasonable and wasn't able to get across her denial. After I finish the story, I might rewrite that chapter. **

**Anyways, first kiss! XD I was debating with myself with this scene and I've struggled with it because Gaara had initiated it. In my head, I was imagining their first kiss started by Ino, or at least in my outline it was supposed to be the other way around. But as I typed this and imagined Kankurou teaching Gaara dirty, nasty things, I just had to make the chapter ending like this. Har har. **

**There was a question about Matsuri! Don't worry, she isn't forgotten. I'll be wrapping everything up (or try my best to) for the ending in the next three chapters, so I hope you're still with me till then. **

**Thank you again for the reviews and faves!**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

By the third week, the Kazekage, after his fight with Yamanaka Ino and the talk that followed after, had changed dramatically almost overnight in so many different aspects. For one, he had stopped over-working. And while Ino had worried about it at first, thinking that he wouldn't be able to catch up on his paperwork, she was surprised when Gaara had proven that he was capable of prioritizing, contrary to what he used to believe of himself. He achieved this by actually changing many of the rules he had passed around the village when he first became Kage.

First off, he had hired secretaries. Several of them. He had assigned them to work his papers for him that did not require his immediate attention, and they were to ask his advice if – _and only if _– they could not figure it out by themselves. All of them were to be supervised by Baki, who was completely pulled out of the council and promoted as Gaara's right-hand man. The man looked absolutely happy. It was maybe because he did not have to deal with the old douche bags of the council from then on. And his raise might have something to do with it, too.

Because of this, there had been a lot changes that happened within the Sand. Since Gaara had opened his schedule dramatically, he had found himself free in visiting the academy at least twice a week to monitor the performance of their new recruits, and Gaara had actually asked Ino to come with him once for a tour of the academy. It had been very shocking for Ino, because although she had seen many pictures of children in Gaara's office, it was the first time she had actually seen him _surrounded _by them.

And he looked completely at home standing in the middle of a ring of students as he told them stories of the time when he was a child himself, and how he got to become _'best buddies' _with the Hokage. His talks always revolved around teamwork, friendship and the values of both. Ino had stayed a few meters away from the group on a rock bench to watch him speak animatedly to his audience. He was interesting to observe; he looked like he was enjoying himself.

That was the first and last time Ino let Gaara drag her to the academy, though. He had asked her again the next day, but Ino had adamantly declined. And that was because when she had looked at Gaara surrounded by children, her imagination had run away with her, of Gaara being a father. And thoughts that concerned Gaara fathering a child led to many, many thoughts that she had not been emotionally prepared to think about.

Of course, she had thought about Gaara shamelessly even when he wasn't with children. In fact, after the day she had realized that she was actually attracted to the man, she had become a hopeless case. It was like her mind would generate small fantasies that revolved around whatever Gaara was doing.

Gaara would be cooking her omelets. She would imagine him making her breakfast in bed, saying something like, "Honey, would you like tomatoes on the side?" or something even more embarrassing than that.

Gaara would come out of the shower and sneak up on her while she did her daily mission report, and she would imagine him wrapping his arms around her from behind and dragging that mouth of his up her neck.

Actually, her fantasizing got crazier and crazier as each day passed. She had scolded herself many times for it, and convinced herself that dreaming of having a romantic relationship with the man was not only just unadvisable, but highly improbable. The reason why she was there in the first place was because the man was _avoiding _relationships. What made her think she was going to convince him otherwise was beyond her. Not that she was thinking of _convincing_ him, or something stupid like that…

Although little did Ino know that rumors had been spreading around the whole village about the Kazekage's fiancée being the one and only reason why Gaara had become relatively happier. The bulk of talks between jounin teachers in the academy during their lunch breaks composed of seeing Gaara and Ino walking through the market place hand-in-hand shopping for beets and liver, or spotting them sitting under the stars in the balcony of Gaara's office in the tower, talking quietly in each others ear.

Talks and rumors between the chuunin were even cheesier, especially among the girls. Unknown to Ino, the chuunin girls had discovered the tulip and cosmos seeds she was propagating in one of the greenhouses. This had sparked a story of Gaara wanting to fill the village with the Konoha kunoichi with flowers on their wedding day. Then they would squeal and giggle and talk about how handsome their Gaara-sama would be in his wedding robes. Or how their Gaara-sama would be like on his honeymoon. Or how their Gaara-sama would have beautiful children because Ino-sama was beautiful.

If any of these rumors ever reached Gaara's ear, he never let on. He went with his everyday schedule; left the house at eight in the morning with a lunch box wrapped in a purple scarf, and he would come home at around six in the afternoon, suspiciously in a hurry. Those who witnessed the Kazekage crossing the square in a slow jog didn't know that the reason he was in a hurry was because he couldn't wait for dinner.

Aside from the fact that Ino's feelings were giving her a hard time looking at Gaara in the eye, she had tried her best to act as naturally as she could around the man. It wasn't easy. She didn't know if she was just putting too much thought into it, because she felt as if Gaara was becoming more… romantic with her. She didn't even know if that was the right word to define him.

It was very surreal. While Ino had been used to Gaara always wanting to be in the same room with her, after their talk and their _'kiss and make up' _episode, it was as if the man had been very sensitive with proximity. There were times when Ino would be washing the dishes and Gaara would silently approach her from behind, placing hands on either side of her waist for no reason at all. When Ino would nervously ask if he needed anything, he would press his nose on her hair and inhale deeply before leaving with no explanation at all. He would shower while Ino finished with her kitchen duty, then Ino would grab a shower herself and make them tea. Once Ino had washed their tea cups, Gaara would be there grabbing her arm and dragging her into bed, which in normal circumstances Ino would have thought very kinky, but knew better than to expect anything other than cuddling.

Of course, there had been rare moments in the night when she would wake up with Gaara running his fingers through her hair when he thought she was asleep. There had been an instance when she felt his thumb brushing her brow gently, and she tried her best to control her breathing. She did not know what Gaara was trying to accomplish by making those intimate gestures that Ino doubted he understood, but it had done absolutely _nothing _for her nerves. Those slight touches left her wanting more of those kisses he had showered her after their fight, especially when Gaara would unconsciously rub his nose against hers when they were sleeping.

Although their nightly routine had stuck to this pattern, one of the strangest changes in Gaara that Ino noted, however, was how he acted in the morning. Before their fight and _'make up session'_, Gaara had always been late to rise, and Ino had in fact enjoyed waking him up to get ready for breakfast. Strangely, though, Gaara was always the first to rise lately. Ino would wake up at around six in the morning to find Gaara's side of the bed empty. The stranger part of that was that he would always come back to bed looking flushed, lethargic and very, very disturbed and he would nudge Ino gently to tell her it was time to get up. Ino never bothered asking Gaara what was wrong. She knew that if there was something the man wanted to tell her, he would, in his own time.

But in the span of the week, he never enlightened her.

On her twentieth day in Suna, if anyone ever told her that the one to enlighten her would be Kankurou, she would have laughed. Actually, she had been avoiding the man since the day he taught Gaara that apologies were easier to accept with deep kisses. She knew that if she were to see Kankurou, she was afraid she would do something violent to the man. And so that week, it was actually the first time for her to be alone with Gaara's older brother.

He had appeared as her escort to the main gates of Suna. Today, the delegate of Pippu and his daughter were leaving the Hidden Sand, and Ino was going to see them off. A big part of her was going to miss Masami. She had been a welcome friend in the midst of hostile daughters that had tried to kill her. She was going to be sad to see her go.

"Kinda sucks, huh?" Kankurou said as Ino tried to widen the distance between them.

"Kankurou, it's barely ten in the morning. Are you here to annoy me?" Ino asked gruffly as she stalked faster.

Kankurou, having relatively longer legs, didn't even have to make an effort to catch up with her. "Aww, come on, Ino. Are you still mad at me? We haven't talked for six days."

Ino flashed him what she hoped to be an evil stare. "You're asking me if I'm mad? Seriously?"

"It was just a kiss! Well, several kisses… can't you let it slide? I didn't think he was going to take me seriously," Kankurou pleaded. Regardless of his puppy-dog eyes, his insolent mouth was grinning eagerly.

Ino stopped walking and whacked his arm hard.

"Ow!" the man cried, shrinking away.

"What do you mean, _'you didn't think he was going to take you seriously?' _This is_ Gaara! _Haven't I warned you enough to stay away from him? You teach him dirty things. Don't you feel even a little bit of remorse?" Ino took a deep breath and tried to reign in her anger.

The only one who knew of Ino's feelings for the Kazekage was Temari, and maybe Kankurou really didn't mean any harm, but if he was going to keep stuffing ideas in Gaara's head, and Gaara ended up practicing it on _her_, then she didn't know if her poor heart could handle it. She was not stupid. She knew deep down that being attracted to the man was going to lead nowhere.

_Let it all end. Let it all end, _she repeated in her head. This had been her mantra for the last week when Gaara tried to be sweet to her, unwittingly making emotions in Ino stir.

Kankurou rubbed the spot where she had hit him. "Sheesh! I'm sorry, okay? If I didn't know any better you're, like, this faithful little lady who saves her kisses for her boyfriend. You have a jealous man waiting for you at home who's not too keen on sharing his girl's kisses?"

Ino rolled her eyes dramatically as she started walking. "Yeah, that's exactly it. My boyfriend just _explodes_ with jealousy when other guys kiss me. What kind of stupid question is that? Any boyfriend would be mad if other guys kiss their girls, idiot," she said sarcastically.

Kankurou hurried after her. "Will you wait up? I wanted to ask you something. It's about Gaara."

Ino whirled around so fast that Kankurou nearly ran her over. "If you had been brainwashing him again, I swear – "

"That's what I wanted to ask you!" Kankurou said, raising his arms in front of him, afraid of getting hit again. "I was wondering if things have been okay between you two lately. Because I think something's off."

Ino took a deep breath, counted to ten then released it in a huff. "What is it?"

"Gaara's been talking to me yesterday…" Kankurou's face flushed evidently. He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, man. Why is it that I'm always stuck with this kind of job?"

Ino crossed her arms under her chest, jutting her right hip and tapping her left foot impatiently on the ground. "If you don't want to tell me, I don't really care. Masami's waiting for me at the gates."

Kankurou shuffled from one foot to another. "I was just wondering how things are… with you and Gaara… in the… _bedroom._"

Ino was torn between clawing Kankurou's eyes out and simply kicking him between the legs. _"Excuse me?"_

Kankurou reddened further. He waved his hands in front of him, as if to ward the evil glare Ino was throwing at him. "Damn it! That didn't come out as it should have!"

"How was it supposed to come out, you pervert!" Ino blurted out.

"Gaara's been asking for my advice again last night, okay!"

"Advice from you? _From you!"_

"Don't make it look like I'm the bad guy here!"

"If you're not the bad guy, then what the heck are you?"

Kankurou looked around and found a few passers-by looking over to them suspiciously. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in a narrow alley between two houses. "Have you… Has he… ?" he whispered.

Ino glared at the man, feeling suddenly feverish. For some weird reason, she knew where this was going. "Are you implying that Gaara and I have been doing something we're not supposed to do in bed?" she said dryly.

Kankurou looked around again in panic. "Shh! Not so loud!"

Ino made to leave, shaking her head.

Kankurou yanked her back. "Gaara's been… _asking questions_… About… uhm… stuff… " The red in the man's face instantly faded to a miserable blue. It was obvious he wasn't comfortable telling Ino these things. For a moment Ino actually felt sorry for him. Just a little.

"Well? We're consenting adults here. What has he been asking?" Ino asked. She had a feeling if she didn't let him talk about this, she would be stalked by the puppet master until she listened to him.

Kankurou swallowed hard. "He's been asking me why it's always giving him a _hard time _in the mornings after waking up. And… uhm… and sometimes in the evenings when – _gaaghh!"_

Ino slammed her palm across Kankurou's mouth, wanting to die of embarrassment. "I'd prefer you not say it. I get it."

She didn't even know what Gaara would think if he found out his older brother was speaking to the woman he was sleeping on the same bed with about his daily erections. The mere thought of it made her uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable.

Kankurou swatted her hand away. "This is the first time Gaara's ever openly talked about it without scaring himself shitless. In fact, he's starting to be… quite curious about it, and a bit embarrassed. So I was wondering if there was… something that made him start showing… uhm… _interest_ on the subject of… yeah… " he finished lamely.

And in the span of three seconds the mystery of Gaara waking up early and coming back to bed looking wasted and hassled and grumpy was a mystery no more. The fact that Ino hadn't even noticed his predicament made her feel a bit worried. Perhaps it was because Gaara was asking Kankurou for advice. Things always ended badly with asking Kankurou for advice.

She blushed. But at least Gaara didn't ask _her _about it. That would have been even more awful.

"_Ino, I have a hard-on. What do I do with it?"_

"_Well, there are a lot of ways we can deal with _that_, Gaara…"_ Insert wonderful sexual fantasy here.

Crap. This was getting nowhere. Ino pushed the thought out of her head. "I have no idea. We haven't been doing anything different than before, except the fact that he's doing better with work now. Don't look at me. I know nothing." She stepped out of the alley and hurried away from Kankurou.

Kankurou was walking beside her in a heartbeat. "Wait! It's not like I'm accusing you of anything! I was just…"

"Just _what_, Kankurou? You were just _what?"_

"I just wanted to… uhm. I just wanted to thank you. Whatever you did – "

Ino threatened him with a fist.

"_Sorry! _– whatever you _didn't do_, I'm grateful." Kankurou fell silent as they both fell into step with each other. "He's never had a father figure to guide him with these things before, and I guess… It had become a self-proclaimed job for me to make sure he's… you know… "

Ino looked over at him suspiciously as she fell into a leisurely pace. "Sometimes I have to just question your judgment on the way you teach him. Please stop using me as your guinea pig. It embarrasses me." Not to mention it leads her on. She lowered her chin and stared at the ground she was walking on. She had no doubt that with the way Gaara has been treating her when they were together, it wouldn't be hard for him to actually have a healthy relationship after this was all over.

Of course, that fact made her insides churn violently. Because even though she didn't want to admit it, she was already getting jealous over the fact of Gaara marrying some other woman who was not her. Not that she _wanted _to get _married_ to Gaara or anything! Sure, she liked the man, but marriage? _Pfft! _

Not that she had any right to stake claim on him to begin with.

Right?

_I mean, the reason why I'm here in the first place is to keep him from _marrying_ anyone he didn't like… _

Her even thinking of having Gaara reciprocate her feelings for her was every bit a contradiction to the mission she was hired for.

"Ino," Kankurou started, then he was instantly scratching the side of his neck uncomfortably. "I was just wondering… what you think of Gaara."

Ino nearly tripped on her own feet at the question. "What do you mean _'what I think of him?'_ What's there to think?" she asked slowly, not sure where the conversation was going. "He's the Kazekage, he's gotten really better at his job lately. He treats his subordinates well. And he listens to you too much."

Kankurou looked a bit annoyed. "Not that. I meant, as a _man_. What do you think of him?"

That had brought Ino to a complete halt. _As a man?_ Oh, she had a lot of thought about Gaara_ as a man_. Considering she hadn't actually had a very good history in men – given that her first love ended up to be a deranged lunatic with Sharingan eyes who wanted everyone in Konoha dead. His abs was to die for, though – she thought Gaara to be a whopping nine out of ten stars in her hunk-meter. But she wasn't really sure. She _did_ have bad taste in men.

Of course, she just couldn't overlook the fact that Gaara was just… handsome, to say the least. He was thoughtful in many ways a hopeless-romantic would have wanted a man to be. And he was ever-so-clumsy enough to find endearing and adorable.

And he kissed like a pro.

_Not going there!_

Ino shook her head of the thought. "Look, I don't even know why you're asking me this. It doesn't matter what I think of him as a man."

Kankurou frowned. "It's just a question, Ino. It doesn't mean anything."

Ino gestured at him. "Oh. Well. If you put it that way, what about you? What do _you_ think about him? _As a man_. It's just a question, after all."

Kankurou's expression stiffened and he stared down at Ino seriously. "I think he's a _changed _man. I think he's a _better_ man now than before. That's what I think."

Ino's brow furrowed thoughtfully as she looked directly back at the man in front of her. Those sharp eyes of his that had been full of schemes and naughtiness were serious, as it had been back three weeks ago when he was telling her of Gaara's issues when he was young. That had been the first time Ino had seen that face of his. Those eyes were on her again, after admitting to her that Gaara had started to become sexually aware of himself after a long period of closing himself away from that possibility of…

Possibility of what?

_The possibility a man and a woman had when together. _

"I think he was a great man even before he changed, Kankurou. He's always been a great man," Ino said sincerely.

That was when Kankurou finally diverted his eyes from her face. "You really think that?"

"I do. I've been living with him for three weeks straight. He's awesome." And to make things lighter, as Ino was feeling a bit strained from the thick tension around them, she added with a laugh, "And he makes great omelets."

Kankurou looked grateful for the comment because he smiled a small, one-sided smile. "Anyway, the council has been quiet lately ever since Gaara started making changes around here. There were times when they actually tried to tell him off, but it was a rare display for Gaara to put his foot down. The council didn't even know what hit them. Well, actually they _did_ know; a handful of sand at their feet, and a stare from Gaara so cold that it could have frozen the desert over."

Ino had to smile at that, too. At least, even if she knew it was purely self-satisfactory, she had helped in making sure Gaara was never going to be pushed around and walked all over on even after her month was up. That, in itself, should have been a comfort for her.

That was why she was surprised when she felt her heart clench painfully at the mere thought of leaving him when everything was over and done with. At the same time, she sighed outwardly and started playing her mantra over and over in her head.

_Let it all end. Let it all end._

She kept the smile on her face bright. "You have to stick to him like glue so he doesn't revert back to his old self, okay? You're the big brother, so you have to take care of him."

The smile slid from Kankurou's face, and the hands set on either side of him clenched into fists several times before relaxing again. "Preventing him from reverting back to his old self isn't the job of the big bro. It's the wife's job."

Ino felt a lump form at the base of her throat. She covered it with a laugh. "Well, until he finds a wife, you just have to fill in the shoes of the little lady." She patted Kankurou's shoulder lightly.

Kankurou's expression darkened. Then he uttered only one word that sent Ino reeling. "Idiot." And then he walked away from her.

Ino's eyes widened in disbelief. "Hey! What did you just say to me?" she demanded loudly, watching Kankurou move away from her hastily. What was his problem?

"I said you're an idiot. For someone who doesn't look like one," Kankurou said over his shoulder.

Well, given that there were other people smarter than her, and given that she's made a few stupid decisions in life… but still… that didn't make her an idiot. Not really.

"Hey!" Ino called after him, breaking into a run as she tried to catch up to Kankurou's strides. Luckily, the man seemed to think it rude to have walked out on her because he stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"You're suddenly acting all high and mighty here," Ino said lightly as they started for the gates again. "Or are you forgetting you've given me a lot of reasons to be miserable because of your big brother act."

Kankurou eyed her side-ways. "Miserable? Is that what you were all this time while you're here?" he asked quietly.

Ino paused a bit, feeling suddenly harassed. "I didn't mean it that way. We talk like this all the time. You know, dry sarcasm. Snappy retorts. What's wrong with you?"

Kankurou sighed loudly. Which was annoying because he might as well just say it out loud, whatever he felt like saying instead of acting so… so _un-Kankurou-like. _

The man didn't say anything concerning Gaara for the rest of the walk towards the gates, and Ino hadn't bothered pressing the subject. Everything was forgotten when they finally reached the gates where Temari and Iwate were standing around two camels loaded with water skins and objects bundled up at their backs. On one of the camels sat a man that Ino knew to be Masami's father. She had talked to the man several times a few days back, and although he lacked the bubbly personality his daughter possessed, he was just as polite as she. The man nodded to them in acknowledgment. Ino bowed her head respectfully.

When Ino and Kankurou arrived, Masami's tiny frame peeked from behind the unoccupied camel, and her face brightened. "Ino-san! You came!" She dashed towards Ino and flung herself into the blonde's waiting arms.

"Of course, I came! Wild horses couldn't have kept me away from seeing you off!" Ino exclaimed as she hugged the girl and spun her around happily. "Oh, I'm going to miss you!"

"I'm missing you already!" Masami said when she pulled away, her eyes a bit watery. "You _have _to visit Pippu! You have to come see me when you settle down in Suna! Oh, oh! You have to inform me once you set the date for the wedding. It takes a few days to get here from Pippu, but I'll definitely come."

"Of course," Ino lied, her heart sinking. She had made a friend in the very energetic girl, that at that moment she instantly felt bad for having to lie to her all this time they were together. Masami was about to set home with the thought of getting an invitation to a wedding that wasn't going to happen.

Temari stepped forward and placed a hand on Masami's head, ruffling her hair. Masami giggled happily. "You take care, and send us a bird when you finally reach home safely. I'm sorry Gaara couldn't be here to see you off."

Masami shook her head quickly. "Oh, no it's okay. I don't want to bother him. Please thank him for me. He's been very hospitable."

"Will do." Temari gave the girl one more pat on the head before stepping back for Kankurou to say his goodbyes.

The puppet master extended a hand up and Masami enthusiastically gave him a high five. "You take care, small stuff. I'll be seeing you next month for our new corn and bean trade, all right?"

"My father and I will be looking forward to it." Masami squeezed his hand before letting go. "You've been really good to me. I'm never going to forget it."

"You've been great to us, too. Gaara says he owes you for standing up for Ino a few weeks back against the umbrella lady." Kankurou laughed.

Masami grinned at Kankurou then hugged Ino again. "I'm glad that I was of some use to you. Stay safe, all right?"

Ino patted the kunai holster strapped to her thigh. "I'll do my best."

Masami looked over her shoulder to the strangely silent Iwate who was trying to act busy by crushing little pebbles with his toe. Ino couldn't miss the slight blush on Masami's cheeks.

Ino raised her eyebrows. Was she missing something here?

"Iwate-kun," Masami started as she shyly took a step towards the chuunin.

Masami's father cleared his throat loudly. Iwate jumped slightly in place and watched in horror when the father eyed Masami knowingly before slapping the reigns of his camel out of the gates. Kankurou and Temari looked at each other with small grins on their faces.

Masami shot her father an irritated glance, then turned back to Iwate again. "Uhm… well, goodbye."

Iwate looked away, his face also reddening.

Temari scratched the back of her head uncomfortably. "Oh, I forgot to say something important to your father, Masami. We'll be waiting for you outside the gates, all right?" She eyed Iwate encouragingly before jogging out of the gates after the Pippu delegate.

Kankurou gave Masami a final tap on the shoulder. "I have to get going, too. Gaara wants me back in the tower. You take care, all right? And next month, don't forget! See you, Ino." The puppet master also left after giving Iwate a very blunt thumbs-up.

Iwate looked like he was going to faint. He looked at Ino desperately, as if begging her not to abandon him, too.

Ino started digging in her mind a good enough excuse to disappear. It was obvious she had missed something between Iwate and Masami while she had been busy with the daughters and Gaara and everything in between. The least she could do was give them a bit of space to say their private goodbyes. "Unfortunately, Masami, I have to go, too. But I'll send you letters and… " she smiled painfully. "… and an invitation to the wedding when everything's all settled and decided, all right?"

Masami had her arms around her again and was squeezing tightly. "All right, Ino-san. I'll keep in touch." She sniffed. "Now go, before I cry!"

Ino nodded in understanding. She gave Iwate, who was looking really sick right now, an encouraging nod as if saying, _"You can do it!"_ And she let Masami kiss her on the cheek before she turned around and hurriedly made her swift escape.

She made her way back to Gaara's house feeling a bit hollow. Masami had been a firecracker and she had made Ino laugh so many times while they were together and the thought of not being able to see the girl made her sad. Pushing Masami out of her mind for the meantime, she hurried back home, thinking that it would be a good time to finish up the laundry and write her daily report to Naruto while it was still early, then check on her tulips and cosmos.

The moment she walked into their street, she saw someone standing completely still in front of their door.

_Matsuri?_

From afar, Ino watched as the woman raised her knuckles to their door, then hesitated. She turned her back from the door and walked a few steps away, only to turn back around and do the same thing all over again.

Ino couldn't help but smile. She started to walk towards the woman. "Matsuri?"

The woman flinched and turned towards Ino, looking absolutely frightened. "He-hello, Ino-san."

"Is there anything you need?" Ino asked as she slipped her key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

Matsuri was shuffling on her feet nervously. "Uh… I wanted to… have a chat with you."

Ino paused, gave the girl a once-over and instantly felt guilty for having checked her if she was carrying anything deadly. _She_ was not an aspiring wife-to-be, after all. Feeling ashamed for having doubted the girl, she nodded. "Would you like to come in?"

Matsuri looked shocked for about three seconds before she nodded hesitantly. "If it isn't a bother to you."

Ino laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "So long as you don't try to poison my tea."

She had said it as a joke, but Matsuri had instantly launched into startled reassurances. "I would never – _never! _– do that to anyone, Ino-san! I don't have anything on me! Would you like to search me?"

"Whoa, slow down," Ino said as she pushed the door open and glanced at the dark-haired woman. "It was a joke. I know you won't try anything that dirty. Gaara speaks highly of you. He trusts you. Why shouldn't _I_ trust you, too?"

At the mention of Gaara's name, Matsuri seemed to relax. "I'm sorry. Excuse me." She stepped into their house after Ino gestured for her to come in.

Ino started picking up the scattered papers on the floor, remnants of Gaara's unfinished paperwork from last night. "I'm really sorry about the mess. I usually clean up before I leave the house but I had to see Masami off today." She dumped everything on the corner of the room before shoveling the papers on the sofa to one side. "Have a seat."

Matsuri looked around the house curiously as she sat. "It's the first time I've entered Gaara-sama's house. It's really… uhm…"

"Bare?" Ino offered, settling down on the carpet next to the stack of papers she had dumped on the floor. "Yeah, I know."

Matsuri instantly reddened and she scrambled to the floor, too, tucking her legs under her and folding her hands on her lap.

Ino watched her. "You can have the couch. I'd offer you another chair, but as you can see, we don't have any other furniture to sit on. Unless you want to sit in the kitchen? Maybe have tea?"

"No!" Matsuri blurted out, perhaps a little too loudly. Her face flushed. "I mean, no, thank you. I'm good, Ino-san. Really."

"Oh. Well, all right. So…" Ino paused, waiting for her to start talking. Matsuri was squirming on her place on the carpet. "Is this about Gaara?"

_Of course it was about Gaara_. For the past three weeks the only thing women who approached her wanted to talk about was _Gaara_.

Matsuri looked away. "A part of it, I guess. But before anything else, I just wanted to apologize to you for being rude to you that first night we met. I had walked out on you like a child. I'm very sorry for that."

"That? That was ages ago! And you don't have to apologize for that. I understand perfectly," Ino said. And she did. It was obvious the girl had feelings for Gaara.

And hadn't Ino actually tried to talk to Gaara about Matsuri's feelings for him? It was written all over her face, the pain and disbelief when she first saw Ino and Gaara holding hands in their first attempt at being a couple.

Matsuri shook her head. "No, really. I should apologize. The first time I saw you, really, I didn't believe you. I honestly thought you were lying. I couldn't believe Gaara-sama falling for someone like you. You're so… so _unlike _him."

Ino raised her eyebrows at the girl, and thought to herself that any girl out there could easily have fit that description of being _unlike _Gaara.

"But then," Matsuri continued. "As days passed, and I saw you two walking hand in hand in the market, or how Gaara-sama would look at you when you would say something to him, I realized I had been wrong, and that the only reason why I didn't want to believe you was because I was jealous."

Ino lowered her eyes to the carpet, feeling suddenly miserable. Here was a girl who genuinely had feelings for Gaara, and she was convinced that Ino and Gaara were really engaged. How painful it must be for her. "Matsuri? You love Gaara, don't you?" she asked quietly.

Matsuri started to get a bit flustered. She started tugging at a lock of her brown hair nervously. "Oh… Uhm… Well… H-he was my teacher back when I was just a little girl... And, he taught me a lot. Changed my outlook in life, even. Even before I became a Jounin and started teaching in the academy, he's always been there for me when I needed advice." She started blushing. "And he's grown up handsomely… He had always been good-looking when we were young but… " Then as if realizing what she was saying, she let out a small cry. "Oh, Ino-san I'm sorry for going on and on about him. I'm sure you don't want another woman to think of your fiancé that way."

Ino shook her head, smiling. "That's all right. I know exactly how you feel." Oh, did she ever. "You know, Gaara holds a special place in his heart for you. He keeps a picture of you in his office, or I'm sure you've seen that?"

Matsuri ducked her head, although she was now smiling. "I know. But that's because he keeps pictures of all his students in his office." She said it like it was a disappointment, but she looked happy enough.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ino asked.

Matsuri turned to her curiously. "Sure."

"Why didn't you ever tell Gaara your feelings?"

Matsuri bit her lower lip, took her time in answering. "I did."

Ino's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Y-you did? _When?"_

Matsuri was biting her lower lip again. She was obviously debating whether to tell her or not. She finally decided that hiding it wouldn't do anyone any good. "Uhm, it was the night before you came to Suna. Three weeks ago."

Ino swallowed. "Oh… oh, dear…"

_So that was why Gaara had been uncomfortable discussing Matsuri…_

"I heard his fiancée – Ino-san – was coming. I couldn't believe he was engaged. He never told me anything. And I couldn't help myself. I told him I loved him. But he said… he said he was already in love with someone else." She laughed hollowly as she looked at Ino with glassy eyes. "I shouldn't have admitted my feelings. I didn't want to believe it, so I wanted to see for myself if it was true, so I came to the meeting with Baki-sensei and Ebizo-sama. I still couldn't believe it then. I _didn't_ want to believe it, so I ran. I'm really sorry."

And once again, Ino felt ten times worse than the feeling she had about lying to Masami about sending an invitation to their wedding. Here, right in front of her, was a girl who loved Gaara genuinely and who had the courage to actually tell him that, even when she knew she was going to get rejected. Ino felt like crawling into a hole.

She, on the other hand, had been trying so very hard to deny her feelings for the man that had made her fall for him without even trying. And she was planning to run away from it once the mission was over.

_It's not like there's any other option. No one has to know, and everything will be back to normal. _

She didn't want to lie like this, but she knew she had to. She felt horrible for Matsuri. "I'm sure that he values your feelings a lot."

Matsuri laughed and she dashed at her eyes. Ino couldn't miss the tear that almost trickled down the girl's cheek. "I didn't even know what I wanted him to say after I told him I loved him. I knew about you already. I knew you were coming, but I just had to say it."

Ino kept silent, trying to respect her silent tears that she had been trying very hard to wipe away before they fell. What happened to a person when they fell in love anyway? Ino didn't know. She had thought she was in love with Sasuke back when she was just a little girl, and that feeling had brought out the worst in her. When she turned sixteen, she had given up on the thought completely and even more so when she turned twenty when her priorities changed and she entered the Intelligence Division with her father.

She had dated a few men in her life, but none really lasted for more than a few months. Her career mattered to her too much, and since most of those men she had dated were ninja, they were into their jobs, too. When she turned twenty-five, she had crossed out any romantic relationships out of her book and started really training as a medic nin under Sakura's supervision. And in the four years they had been together, they had mended their friendship that had almost been completely destroyed by the love they thought they shared for the Uchiha.

And so now that Matsuri was telling her tearfully that she was in love with her supposed fiancé, she was confused to find herself understanding the feelings of the other girl, even when she herself couldn't say that she completely understood this _'love'_ thing.

Ino smiled, and reached out to touch Matsuri's knee. "I'm really sorry. I wish I could comfort you more." She didn't know what else to say. How was she supposed to comfort someone who was in love with a man she was supposedly going to marry, Even if it was a plain lie? For a moment she was tempted on telling Matsuri the truth, but her logic got the better of her.

Matsuri shook her head and laughed through her tears. "I'm so stupid. Look at me, crying over this like some lovesick teenager."

Thoughts of Gaara after this mission plagued her head as she looked at Matsuri now openly crying. After a month – after one more week – Ino would leave, and she imagined Matsuri finding out that this engagement was all a hoax. And Ino imagined her being happy. Of her and Gaara being happy. She was such a masochist. She didn't even know why she had started thinking that.

"You were very brave. Not many people could have admitted their feelings like you did," Ino said. And she was referring to herself in particular.

She let Matsuri calm down a bit, offered her tea, and talked about Gaara's younger days. Matsuri talked animatedly about Gaara when he was still struggling to be the Kazekage, and it was obvious how she really looked up to him as a teacher and as a friend. When the girl was relatively happier, she gave Ino a hug as they stood by the front door.

"I would never be able to ask Gaara-sama to reciprocate my feelings for him, but you know what? I'm just glad that it's you he's marrying. I've never seen him open up to another like he has to you. You're amazing," Matsuri said happily before pulling away. "I'm definitely rooting for you. You have to make Gaara-sama the happiest man alive. Because he deserves to be happy."

Ino nodded faintly. "I will." And she watched as Matsuri disappeared through the door, closing it behind her and leaving Ino in her guilt.

* * *

Ino looked up from her plate and stared at Gaara who was picking on his food sourly. He had requested for vegetable tempura earlier in the morning before he left for work, and Ino had prepared what he had asked. But he was not eating.

"Bad day at work?" Ino started, wondering what possibly could have happened at work that made him play with his food. Gaara _never _played with his food. He ate her cooking slowly and happily on all occasions. This was the first time he didn't look satisfied.

"No," Gaara said shortly and he poked at the piece of eggplant with his chopsticks. He frowned.

"You're home awfully early, though," Ino pointed out. Gaara had come home an hour early, and he was already in a bad mood since he had entered the door. He had dropped his gourd uncaringly on the floor and got dressed, pulling at his robes irritably. He had attacked the papers Ino had arranged neatly in the corner and plowed through them mercilessly while Ino made dinner. And by the time she and Gaara were seated across each other, his mood has gotten worse. He wouldn't even meet her eye until now.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that a bad thing?" he asked.

Ino sat up straight, startled. "Coming home early? No. I just said that you're early."

Gaara nodded, and finally, after poking so many holes into his food, he finally took his first bite. He chewed quietly.

Something was wrong, Ino knew. Gaara didn't smell his food before he put it in his mouth.

Gaara shoveled rice into his mouth hastily.

Ino's eyebrows rose even higher up her forehead. Gaara never hurried his meals. And here he was, practically gobbling everything up.

"Is everything all right?" Ino finally asked, lowering her chopsticks on her plate.

Gaara stuffed more rice into his face, uncharacteristically making a mess of himself. Ino reached out and plucked a grain of rice from his cheek. "You have a… there you go." She popped the grain of rice into her own mouth, as a mother would do to a child.

Gaara lowered his chopsticks on his plate, too. "I'm full," he declared, standing up from his chair.

Ino looked down at his unfinished meal, then followed him as he stalked across the kitchen and disappeared into the living room. "Wha – ? Wait, how about tea?"

"I don't want any," he called back.

Ino sat there, stunned as she tried to process everything in her head. _What just happened? _Leaving her own plate unfinished, she stood up and went after Gaara. This was the first time she had ever seen him like this. It was almost like… almost like he was throwing a tantrum.

She found him standing over the couch, facing the wall. He wasn't doing anything. Just standing there, very still. "Gaara? Did anything happen at work? Aren't you hungry?"

"No," Gaara said.

Ino frowned. "No, nothing happened at work? Or no, you're not hungry?"

Gaara looked over to her with an unreadable expression on his face.

He looked… pissed.

"Are you… angry at _me?"_ Ino asked tentatively, although she could not imagine why he would be angry at her. "Is it the tempura? You didn't like it? I can make you something else if you want," she offered, trying very hard not get over-dramatic with this.

Gaara had his trademark stance with his arms over his chest. "No," he said again.

"Is that the only thing you're going to say to me? _No?" _Ino asked, approaching him.

Gaara thought for a moment, then said. "… No."

Ino couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Gaara scowled at her.

"Sorry. I just thought it was funny. Can you please tell me what's bothering you? If you don't tell me, I won't know and I won't be able to help you."

Gaara started an internal battle with himself. His face reddened a bit, and he looked torn between imploding and running away. After a few moments, he finally raised his eyes to her and asked, "Do you have a man waiting for you at home?"

Ino blinked a few times before she realized what he was asking. "What?" she asked dumbly.

Gaara did not look too pleased. "A _boyfriend_. Do you have a boyfriend at home?"

Ino was flabbergasted. "What? No, I don't. Not like it's anyone's business but… no, why do you ask?"

Gaara looked confused, his arms falling to his sides. "But Kankurou said… "

And in that split-second, it struck Ino. She knew nothing good came out of Kankurou talking to Gaara about relationships. Her conversation with the puppet master rang in her head like a gong.

"_If I didn't know any better you're, like, this faithful little lady who saves her kisses for her boyfriend. You have a jealous man waiting for you at home who's not too keen on sharing his girl's kisses?"_

"_Yeah, that's exactly it. My boyfriend just explodes with jealousy when other guys kiss me. What kind of stupid question is that? Any boyfriend would be mad if other guys kiss their girls, idiot."_

She slapped her forehead with a palm. "Oh, god here we go again."

"So, Kankurou was lying to me? You don't have a man waiting for you in Konoha?" He placed a thoughtful finger on his chin. "Maybe I should ask Naruto…"

Ino peeked from behind her fingers, smiling ruefully. "_You_ sound like a jealous boyfriend."

Gaara blinked at her curiously. "Jealous? Me?"

The mere thought of the possibility of Gaara being jealous made her insides twist eagerly. They deflated as soon as Gaara lowered his eyes to the ground. The man didn't know what the heck he was feeling. Damn. "I don't have a boyfriend. I haven't had one in four years. I was too busy learning medical ninjutsu," she explained, all the while wondering why she had to explain herself.

Gaara's angry face was instantly replaced by a new emotion Ino has never seen before; relief. "Oh… " he muttered. He shuffled from one foot to another before starting for the kitchen. "I'm hungry."

Ino's eyes bugged. "That's it?" she asked, then made to follow Gaara.

She was surprised when Gaara suddenly whirled around so suddenly, and she ended up bumping against his chest so hard she nearly lost her footing. Gaara's hands were around her waist in no time. Then, even before she could pull away, Gaara had leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on her mouth, nearly melting her insides in the process.

Ino's arms flapped at her side in protest. "Mmgh!" Gaara kissed her deeper, and Ino could hardly breathe.

In her head, she wondered why Kankurou had told Gaara about that joke they had earlier in the day. Did the puppet master think it would amuse Gaara, who didn't even have an iota of humor in his body? But it didn't really matter. Because in the midst of their kissing, Gaara had backed her against a wall, pressing the length of his body against hers as his hands dug into her hair, loosening her ponytail. Ino's hands had grabbed the front of his shirt, unconsciously plucking – and popping – the first two buttons on it before she realized what she was doing.

Gaara pulled away finally, and he was as breathless as Ino was. "I'm sorry. Let's not fight again," was what he said, and he backed away from her a step, looking down at his shirt curiously, probably wondering what had happened to the buttons that were evidently missing from his clothing.

Ino sagged against the wall weakly, still trying to catch her breath. Damn, he kissed like he could kill! And to think he was still under that stupid belief that kissing someone after a fight made everything all right.

Well, it sort of did…

She touched her hot cheeks with her hands and nodded. "Gaara… "

"Yes?"

"When two people fight, they don't necessarily have to _kiss_ just to _make up_." She straightened her skirt that had somehow hitched up her thigh.

Gaara stared at her for the longest possible time, before saying the sentence that shattered Ino's world in a second. "I know."

She nearly had a panic attack. It was the loud knocking on their door that brought her back to reality. Grabbing that chance to get away from Gaara, she hurried to the door. She hadn't even opened it when Kankurou and Temari threw the door open themselves, and paraded into their living room, looking absolutely livid. Kankurou was holding a piece of paper,

"Guys! You won't – wow, what happened to your hair?" Kankurou asked suddenly distracted, the sudden powerful intrusion temporarily forgotten.

Temari was staring at her in amusement. "Your hair is… _everywhere_…"

Ino's hands flew to her head and she desperately tried to fix the damage.

"What's going on here?" Gaara asked as he approached Ino from behind.

Kankurou and Temari's eyes were immediately on the patch of skin exposed on Gaara's chest and the conspicuously missing buttons of his _very_ suspiciously wrinkled shirt.

"Should we come back another time?" Temari asked slowly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Kankurou was already heading for the door.

Gaara was not moved. Ino scowled at them and she grabbed Kankurou's collar violently. "You came barging in here like there was a fire. What did you want?"

And that was when Kankurou was all business. "Have you guys been planning something you haven't been telling us? Because when I went for the common evening rounds, these fliers were scattered all over the village." He held out the paper in her hand.

Ino snatched the paper from the puppet master, nearly ripping it in two.

"Since when have you guys started taking everything seriously? Because the whole townspeople are rejoicing about something that we haven't heard from any of you at all. Not that we're complaining or anything. Whatever goes your boat and all," Temari said, looking from Gaara and Ino, then sharing a smile with Kankurou.

And Ino felt faint for the second time that day, and this time it had nothing to do with Gaara's kiss. Because in her hand was a flier that said this:

_As the flower blooms and petals unfold,  
we're soon to say "to have and to hold."  
We've made the plans and can hardly wait…  
our wedding is near and here is the date!_

We're getting married on  
on Saturday,  
April 28  
at six o'clock in the evening  
at the Hidden Sand Square  
Wind Country

Please join us for a day to remember!

**Yamanaka Ino**  
and  
**Sabaku no Gaara**

She hardly even heard Temari and Kankurou when they asked so many questions she didn't have the answers to.

"Does Naruto know?"

_No. I don't think so…_

"Gaara, when did you propose for real?"

_That's what I want to know!_

"Does Ino's father know?"

_I hope not!_

"Who's your best man?"

_Who freaking cares?_

"And the maid of honor?"

_Gaah!_

"This is all so sudden! Have you prepared everything? That's a week away!"

_Kill me now…_

Their voices all sounded like bees in her head. Thousands and thousands of noisy bees. She looked up at Gaara.

And the only consolation she got from this was that the man looked as shocked as she was.

_Shit._

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaaaaaand to answer el Cierto's review: Ino and Gaara are twenty nine years old in the story, and so I had made it that yes, Ino is no longer a virgin. Gaara is, though. Coz he's a stick in the mud. XD**

**Thank you for the reviews and the faves! **

**OMG! Two more chapters to go!**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Ino didn't know how long it had been since she sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen, right cheek pressed flat against the surface of the table. She felt sick. No, she felt more than sick. She felt… _really nauseous_. The unfinished tempura dishes were discarded carelessly on the sink, forgotten, and the smell of their oils made her stomach lurch violently.

_How can this be happening? Have I done anything wrong to deserve this?_ She asked herself for the tenth time in the duration of the eternity she'd had her face on the surface of their table.

Kankurou and Gaara were talking quietly about something in one corner of their kitchen. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but she would catch snippets of their conversation when she let herself concentrate enough to understand anything.

"…Definitely the council," Kankurou said accusingly.

"Who else could be behind this?" Gaara growled.

"April twenty eight. That's exactly a week from now. What are you planning to do?"

Gaara didn't answer him.

Temari, who had been pacing back and forth in the kitchen right next to the sink, turned to the men. "Is this some sort of plan they concocted to make Gaara admit the engagement's a hoax? Have they caught on?"

"Impossible. With the way these two have been acting, _no one_ would suspect," Kankurou said, and Ino didn't miss the double-meaning in it, though Kankurou did not sound he was teasing. "Those damn old guys…"

It was the worst case scenario. She had come here to Suna under Naruto's complete trust and confidence that she can serve her purpose well and help Gaara in his predicament. Her mission was to keep Gaara from marrying, and here he was, about to get married on April twenty eight! To _her_, of all people! This was not good. Not good!

She rolled her head to the other side, feeling her numbing cheek tingling. As she shifted, she caught Gaara's eye. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was as blank as could be, those cold eyes unreadable, his mouth a thin, straight line.

Ino groaned inwardly. It was a no-win situation. If they didn't admit they really weren't engaged, then they'd end up marrying each other on Saturday. And that means _'mission failed'_. And if they _did _admit it, then Gaara was probably going to be forced to pick a wife among the remaining daughters before the month was up. Which means, _'mission failed.'_

She didn't know which was worse, though.

She tore her gaze from Gaara's face. She didn't want to look at him. Not tonight. Maybe not _ever_.

Temari's hand was on Ino's shoulder sympathetically. "Are you okay?"

Ino shrugged. "Oh yeah. I'm just _dandy_. I mean, I'm about to fail a task worth two S-rank missions in a week's time. No biggie. It's not like I've never failed a mission before. It's only been, like, _ten years _since my last failed mission… But yeah… "

"Are you still thinking about that? Is that all that's important to you?" Temari asked, slightly taken aback.

Ino pushed herself up from the table, scowled. "That's the main reason why I'm _here_." She jabbed a finger towards a still unmoving Gaara. "I have to make sure he doesn't get married to a random chick and suddenly, _I'm random chick candidate number eighteen." _

Temari went grim. She turned to Gaara. ''Say something."

Gaara blinked before leaning back on the wall. "We can talk to the council and tell them to set the date some other time. Tell them we're not ready yet."

"Which is very suspicious because we've already been "dating" for two years now, or at least that's how our story goes, right?" Ino pointed out. "We can't _not_ _be ready."_

"I have a better idea," Kankurou started. "Why don't you guys just get married for real?"

"No!" Ino blurted out, and to her surprise, so did Gaara.

Kankurou flashed Gaara a look. Temari shook her head and covered her eyes with her hand.

"Why not?" Kankurou asked stubbornly. "You've been living together and getting along _splendidly_. You actually look like you're enjoying yourselves. You obviously bring out the best in each other. Why not just make it official?"

Ino felt a headache brewing. She buried her face in one arm. "Kankurou, if those factors are the only things that people need to make a relationship work, then this world would be a better place to live in. We're talking about _marriage_ here."

_If Gaara and I get married… We'll be stuck… forever. _

_And ever…_

Ino's insides did somersaults at the thought of being with Gaara forever, and if she hadn't been any the wiser, she would have let herself run away with that thought.

But she wasn't stupid enough to think that Gaara was feeling the same thing she was feeling. The man was practically a child emotionally. And while Kankurou had been trying his best to teach the man everything he needed to know, it was obvious he still didn't know what he really felt.

But then again, she wasn't really sure. Gaara never talked about it with her. _She_ never talked about it with him.

But the man was more than willing to spend tons of money just to get away from his fate of marrying and having kids. Surely, that said enough of what he felt.

Damn it all.

Temari sighed as she took a seat beside Ino. "I understand your feelings about this mission, and I know how much effort you've dedicated to make it work out. I guess you did such a good job that they thought that since you _are _engaged, you might as well… you know… get it over with."

Gaara detached himself from the wall and stood over Ino uncertainly. "Ino?"

Ino looked up at him nervously. She knew it was a mistake the moment she raised her eyes to him, because he looked so confused, and so beautiful to her that it hurt just thinking about their situation. About _her_ situation concerning her feelings for him.

"This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Gaara said as he knelt down in front of her, touching her knee gently. "What do you want me to do?"

Ino cast her eyes down on the hand on her knee.

_I want you to stop saying my name so lovingly like that. I want you to stop touching me familiarly, as if we're lovers. We're _not_. Don't make this hard for me, dammit. _

"What _should _we do?" she asked him.

Gaara's hand twitched on her knee and he pulled away quickly, as if burned. He pushed himself up to a standing position. "In the meantime, we're not sure if the council really is behind this, although they're the only ones I can think of doing such a thing. It's better if we confront them about this."

Temari nodded. "I agree. You should go with him, Kankurou. Don't let them walk all over you." She gave the puppet master a significant look.

Kankurou wrinkled his nose at her. Temari jerked her head sharply.

Kankurou sighed, then said. "You're right. Let's go, Gaara. Let's give those old people a piece of what they deserve." He stalked out of the kitchen quickly.

Gaara hesitated for a bit, looked down at Ino and moved as if to reach out to her, but decided against it. He nodded. "I'll be back soon." And he was out the kitchen and through the front door before Ino could even say, "See you later."

"You okay?" Temari asked as she sat back on her own seat and rested her elbow on the table, then her chin on her hand.

Ino dropped her forehead on the table loudly. "I'm screwed. I'm completely screwed."

Temari clicked her tongue irritably. "Why are you giving yourself a hard time about this?"

"I'm not giving myself a hard time. It's all your stupid little brother's fault."

"What? Why is this Gaara's fault?"

"Because he made me like him! If he hadn't been so handsome, adorable and annoyingly nice to me, then I wouldn't be feeling this way, and I can think clearer and complete my mission professionally without having to think about him and his stupid unknown feelings, go home and never see him again!" Ino screamed.

"You're being an idiot. We both know Gaara didn't plan for you to like him. _You_ liked him all by yourself. And you're just too messed up with your feelings, that's why you aren't thinking straight."

"You're making me more miserable than I already am. Why don't you just leave me to wallow in sadness alone?"

"No, why don't we just talk about this." Temari rapped the table with her knuckle to get Ino's attention. "What are you _really _feeling right now?"

Ino did not really know what she was feeling. The mission, of course, was first priority. She knew that there may still be a chance to salvage everything before her contract was over. But that was only if she wasn't going to worry about Gaara _after _her contract with them expired. It was pretty simple: if they could convince the council (if they really were the ones responsible) to postpone the wedding until the end of April, until the daughters all go back to their homes, after her contract was over, then the mission would be a success.

And as agreed upon, whatever would happen to Gaara after that month was up would no longer concern Ino or Konoha.

It was just so easy to think about _just the mission_.

But Ino couldn't think about _just the mission_. She was thinking of Gaara. Now, their wedding was scheduled two days before the daughters left, two days before her contract expired. If they ever manage to postpone the wedding two or three days after, Gaara would still be left hanging, and there was the possibility of getting forced to marry one of those daughters, because Ino would no longer have anything to do with him.

She tore at her hair in frustration. "I don't know what to do!"

Temari looked at her in understanding. "Ino… what do you _want_ to do?"

Ino shook her head. She knew Temari was already aware what was confusing her. "I don't know. It's tearing me apart."

"_What's _tearing you apart?"

"The fact that Gaara might end up marrying whether we do something about it or not!" Ino started nibbling the nail of her thumb. "What should I do? _What should I do?"_

Temari stared at her blandly. "Marry him. If you're this worried about him, you might as well."

Ino stared at the woman, her jaw dropping open, scandalized. "You're as bad as Kankurou!"

"Personally, I think Kankurou's suggestion earlier could be the wisest one he's ever had to date."

"That's crazy! Temari, you can't do that to Gaara! _I _can't do that to Gaara!"

"Do _what _to Gaara?"

Ino fell silent and she stood up from her seat. She started pacing around the table, desperate to burn off the anxiety. "Gaara's been good to me for the past three weeks. And the attraction aside, I really believe he's a good man." She pinched her nose bridge as the memory of their fight came back to her in waves.

"_When the council told me they needed me to find a bride, I imagined it in my head that I would make her the happiest woman alive, never make her regret that she married me, so that one day, she'd tell me 'I'm glad I said yes.' From that dream, arranged marriages were already out of the question. I had wanted her to _choose_ me. I had wanted her to have that chance to say no, but she'd say yes anyway because she _wanted_ me. Loving her and pampering her was – _is_ – something I would want to do for her because I _want_ to."_

_It's not a _concept_. It's a _dream_._

"I… I can't ruin his dream…"

Temari sat straighter in her seat. "A dream?"

Ino turned to face her. "Remember that time when Gaara and I had a fight? He told me that it wasn't that he didn't want to get married. It wasn't marriage _per se_ that didn't sit well with him. It was the fact that they had to make it like… like _this!" _She gestured wildly with her hands.

"Like what?"

"Like… like women coming from different parts of the country, offering the council presents just to fill in the spot of Wife. None of these women know who the real Gaara is. None of them even wanted to _try_. They were too busy doing me in when they could have tried getting to know him better." Ino started pacing again, this time, faster. "Gaara said to me, he said: _'__I imagined it in my head that I would make my bride the happiest woman alive, never make her regret that she married me, so that one day, she'd tell me: I'm glad I said yes.' _ Do you know what that means, Temari? It means he wants _courtship_. He wants _romance_. He doesn't want an instant wife! He wants a natural, blooming relationship! He said, '_I would want her to choose _me_. I would want her to have that chance to say no, but she'd say yes anyway because she'd _want _me.'_"

Temari was looking at her with wide, blue eyes. "He… he said that?"

"Damn right he did!" Ino cursed profusely under her breath and stopped by the sink to look down at the still forgotten dishes. With a vengeance, she grabbed the sponge and started scrubbing the plates like crazy. She brought all her frustration down on that one plate so hard that it shattered in her hands. "Dammit!" she cried, pulling her hand away. She did not cut herself, but she wished she did, then maybe the pain on her hand would have occupied her enough from thinking too much about the pain in her heart.

Temari was instantly by her side and the woman guided her back to the seat. "Ino. Relax. Just take a deep breath." She rubbed her back gently.

Ino buried her face in both her hands, her eyes stinging so bad she wanted to claw them out. She had begun to cry. Why won't the tears stop? "Temari… I can't steal that dream away from him. I can't steal away that possibility of him finding the love he wanted by thinking I can just win him over by default. That's not how I want things to go."

Temari's arms were instantly around her, and she was making _'Shh! Shh!'_ noises to calm her down. "Ino, I'm sorry. I didn't know that was how he felt. I didn't know that was how _you _felt."

Ino sagged against the woman and felt instantly stupid when a trail of snot trickled down her nose to her mouth, and she tasted salt. She wiped it away. "I'm a mess."

"No, you're not. It just proves that you really love him."

Ino didn't even have the heart to tell Temari that she didn't _love_ him, that she couldn't possibly _love _him.

Because she knew that would be a lie.

But then again, that was what she was from the very beginning; a lie. She was just there to lie to everyone that she was Gaara's fiancée. And everyone believed her. Everyone believed _them_.

But she was already so tired of lying. So very tired.

* * *

Three days after Ino discovered they were really getting married, she felt like dying in her sleep. The first two days that came after the fliers scattered all over Suna had left her feeling like a zombie. She would go on with her role as the fiancée, and everyone in the village who saw her would congratulate her. Children would walk up to her to give her flowers and little dolls made of paper. When she asked Temari what those dolls meant, the woman said it was a sort of hand-made charm given to a woman who was about to get married.

"_Something like a fertility charm…" _Temari had explained awkwardly. After Ino's breakdown, she had stopped pestering her about the option of just giving up and marrying Gaara. But Temari was the only one who truly understood her, because she was the only one who knew about her true feelings.

Kankurou had been different, of course. He had been more than convinced that she and Gaara should just shut up and enjoy the ride. Temari had beaten him to a pulp when he kept on pressing it.

When Kankurou and Gaara had returned from their talk with the council, it seemed that they were right; the old advisers were the ones who had arranged the date of their wedding and had blatantly made sure the whole village knew about it.

What was so weird was that they did not do it out of spite. Kankurou and Gaara said that the council members were sorry for having doubted them, and that they wanted to show their sincerest apologies by surprising them with having planned and paid for the wedding, all from their own personal accounts. They even met with Ino the day after that, bowed their heads to her in respect, and had wished her their congratulations.

Their apology made everything worse for Ino. Because she had lied to every singe one of them, and they believed her. She didn't even know why she felt so bad about it. She was hired to deceive these people, and she had succeeded. She had done it so well that they were all congratulating Gaara for having found such a wonderful, wonderful woman who was not only beautiful and strong, but also coming from a prominent clan from their ally, the Leaf.

It had been the first time Ino had actually met with the council, and while in her head she had thought of them to be conniving and old-fashioned men and women, she had been surprised to see them to be nice and very outgoing people who actually reminded Ino of her grandparents. Some of them went so far as to pinch Gaara's cheek while telling him, _"You lucky, lucky boy. I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm sorry."_

The women of the council had fussed about her figure, and how beautiful she would look in the white wedding robes of Suna. They had asked her about her family, and how many of them they will be inviting to the wedding on Saturday so that they could air out the special guest rooms in the top floor of the tower. They even asked her what flavor of cake she wanted for the celebration.

They had been very nice. Those few hours that she had spent with the council were enough for her to know that all of them had been waiting for a very long time for Gaara to finally settle down. So much, even, that they had wanted to parade women in front of him just for him to choose. She had been angry at them for it at first, but when she had seen them take care of Gaara the way they did, she then started to wonder if her over-protectiveness had been greatly misplaced. They were really great people.

All the more did she feel awful about everything, for still keeping up the lie. How was she supposed to win this thing without hurting so many different people, and at the same time not hurting Gaara, and not destroying his dream?

Speaking of Gaara, the man looked like he hadn't been himself as well. For one, he seldom left Ino's side, unless he was really needed in his office. He had stopped going to the academy, and insisted he stayed with Ino. Which Ino didn't quite get, because they seldom talked at all. For the past two days, he would watch her silently from across the room. He almost never acknowledged her unless she talked to him first. He had stopped sleeping beside her. Actually, he'd stopped _sleeping_ altogether. The first night of their fourth week she'd invited him to bed, he had looked at her blankly and said he wasn't sleepy. He had taken his place in the middle of the couch, staring at the ceiling. Ino didn't know if he had stayed like that all night, but the next morning, he was still in the same position when she woke up. The pattern continued until the second night of that week. She had wanted to ask him if anything was wrong, but decided that asking such a question was plain stupid.

Of course something was _wrong_. They were getting married on Saturday.

Today, Gaara was called by the council for more protocol. It was like the whole village was on its toes for the preparations for the celebration on Saturday, and the Kazekage was needed to see to it that he invited everyone that mattered and started sending out the invitations that day or they might not be able to make it to the wedding.

"Did you hear what I just said, Ino?" Temari asked, waving a hand in front of Ino's face.

Ino blinked rapidly and sat up straighter in her chair in their kitchen. Temari had come over to bring her a copy of the printed program of the wedding for Saturday. They were looking at it together when Ino's thoughts had started to wander to the events of the past two days. "Sorry. I spaced out. What was it again?"

Temari pointed at the beautiful lavender-colored piece of heavy card stock laid out in front of her on the table. "I said you have to prepare your vows for the wedding. The planners want a rough estimate of how long it would be, so they can prepare for the background music. Here. I even brought you some pretty, girly-girly stationery to write them on." She slid a pink stationery pad and two pens near her.

Ino stared at the papers dumbly, and it took a while before she realized what Temari was really saying. "My… wedding vows…?"

"Yes," Temari said as she watched Ino with that look of hers that she had been using on her too much lately. It wasn't actually pity, but worse. It was… _wariness_. It was as if the woman didn't know what to expect from Ino. She had stopped trying to press her to talk about it, because she already knew what Ino thought about everything that was happening. "Can you make one? They kind of want it by tomorrow. I understand that you can't just write those things spontaneously, but…"

"I'll get to it, then. I can finish today," Ino said weakly as she stood up from her chair. "Are you going to wait for them? Or do you want me to drop them off later at the planners' place when I finish?"

Temari hesitated. "Actually, I was thinking you'd want to consult the groom about your vows before making them. You know, so that both of you have uniform length and all that. You don't want to write a super-long novel, and the only thing Gaara would write is _'I take you as my wife. Over.' _You know what I mean?"

Perhaps Temari really didn't mean it as a joke, but Ino laughed anyway. The way she had said it sounded so much like something Gaara would write for his wedding vows.

Temari's shoulders relaxed when she saw Ino laughing. "It's been two days since I've seen you laugh. I've missed it. You should laugh more often."

Ino gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I'll try." Though she felt like anything but laughing. "I guess I should wait for Gaara to come home. We haven't been talking much for the past couple of days…"

Temari lowered her eyes and pretended to read the program in front of them. "Is anything wrong?"

Ino shrugged. She hadn't really tried to assess what their situation was. If anything, she had welcomed the distance between them. Of course, she had felt his eyes on her all the while they were together, but the usual communication, the normal physical proximity had disappeared. It was as if they were back to day one, when Gaara had been uncomfortable by simply holding her hand. "I guess both of us have been thinking about a lot of things. You know, the wedding and all…"

Temari pursed her lips. "You haven't decided yet, have you?"

Ino shook her head. When Kankurou and Gaara had come back after confronting the council, the four of them had sat in their kitchen to plan out what they were going to do about the wedding. In the end, no one had a good enough plan, and they settled to just play along for the while until someone had a brilliant idea. That brainstorming had been the most random and most irresponsible plan-devising session Ino has ever had. "It's as good a time as ever today, while we're making our vows. I might as well ask him what we're going to do about this."

Temari nodded silently, though she looked like there was something she wanted to say, but didn't.

Ino reached out and gently took Temari's hand, squeezing a bit. "You've been a great help to me for these past weeks, Temari. You're the only one who knows my feelings for him, and I would have gone crazy if you hadn't been here to hear me out. I'll forever owe you."

Temari smiled as she returned her squeeze. "It hurts me to see you like this. I wish I could tell you… " She hesitated again, then continued, "I wish I could tell you assurances that everything is going to be all right, but I don't know where to begin to make you feel better."

Ino shook her head. "You've been more than enough to make me feel better."

"Hang in there," Temari said as she got up from her chair and gave Ino one final hug before she stepped out of the kitchen. Ino heard their front door open.

"Gaara," said Temari's voice from the living room, making Ino lurch forward in her seat.

"Temari," came Gaara's dull, emotionless drawl.

"I was just leaving."

"What were you doing here?"

"I just came to see Ino."

Silence, then, "Thank you."

"Well, I left something with Ino. She'd fill you in on what you've missed, which is to say isn't much. See you around." And Ino heard footsteps, then the door closing. Then more footsteps.

Ino looked up when Gaara appeared at the door of the kitchen. "Welcome home," she said cautiously.

"Hello," Gaara said in response and he made his way to the chair across Ino. "What do you have there?"

Ino did not know why, but having Gaara say a complete sentence to her made her feel incredibly giddy. She found out she did not like to be in non-speaking terms with this man. "Uh, Temari wants us to write our… we-wedding vows…" She had stuttered. She didn't even know why.

Gaara stared at the pink stationery under her hand. "Wedding vows? For Saturday?"

"Yeah. It has something to do with the planners wanting to know how long it would be so they can time the background music or something trivial like that." She tore several pages from the stationery pad and slid it over to Gaara's side of the table along with a pen. "She said they want it by tomorrow. Temari said we have to talk about what we have to write in it so that we can observe uniformity. Or something like that… "

Gaara took the pieces of pink paper and pen from her and stared at it as if seeing paper for the first time in his life. "I've never written wedding vows before…"

Ino smiled at her despite the setting they had. "Neither have I. Although I did give Chouji some tips for his wedding vows." She pointed over her shoulder to the sink. "Do you want to do this over tea?"

Gaara looked up at her, and Ino's breath caught in her throat. She looked away immediately. His eyes were so clouded over by something she could not read that looking at him was close to impossible. "I'm fine. Let's just get this over with," he muttered.

"Oh… well, all right." Ino took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She did not have to over-think this. If she just thought of this as nothing more than a mission… then she can do fine. Just fine. "Well, when Chouji asked me to help him with his vows, I told him that it would be better to start with asking yourself questions. It doesn't really matter if they're going to be in the actual wedding vows. Just to get the ball rolling and all that."

"Questions?" Gaara asked after a moment of silence. He had placed the end of his pen under his lower lip, his gaze still at her.

Ino forced herself to maintain eye contact, although her eyes kept going down to his mouth, where his pen was. "Yeah. Something like, 'what's the greatest thing about the person you're going to marry?' or 'when did you know when you fell in love?' or something like that."

Gaara's gaze sharpened and his shoulders rolled back into the back of his chair. "Love…?"

Ino swallowed hard, suddenly feeling butterflies as huge as nin dogs fluttering in her stomach. There was nothing so special about the way Gaara said that single word, but Ino started to become really uneasy. "Yeah… And then we can ask ourselves, 'when you were little, did you ever think about getting married? How did you see your wedding day?' and then we can compare it with the wedding we're having now."

At that question Gaara looked down at the pink paper in front of him for a full minute before asking, "Did you…?"

Ino blinked. "Did I what?"

"Dream about your wedding day when you were young?"

The sudden question, ironically, made Ino smile. The tension in her stomach lessened as her mind was forced to think about something other than the fact that Gaara was in front of her, and that his foot was slightly touching hers from under the table. "I've thought about it many times when I was young. I guess it's because I've worked in my family's flower shop since I could remember." She closed her eyes at the wonderful memories of those days when she was still a genin. "The bride-to-be would always choose the perfect flowers. I don't know why, but I guess women always develop an affinity to flowers when they fall in love."

"You've always had an affinity even… " Gaara started, paused, then, "Even before you knew what love was, right?"

Ino opened her eyes and gave him a curious look. "I've always thought them all beautiful, but when brides pick their wedding flowers and their motifs, even when they have no idea about the language of flowers, they always pick the ones that say the most wonderful things. Like daisies for fidelity. Or roses for love and a bit of snapdragon for desire. And tulips…"

Gaara tilted his head to the right. "What do tulips mean?"

"They represent a true declaration of love," Ino said. The mere thoughts of flowers had her relaxing even more. She did not even know what made her go on and on. "The reason why I love tulips so much is that they're really fascinating. They look better in a simple vase than those carefully arranged bouquets. They look fabulous in something more organic. And they keep growing even after they're cut, so they last really long."

"And what do yellow tulips mean?" Gaara asked curiously.

Ino bit her lower lip, noting that Gaara was asking about her favorite flower. "There are actually a lot of different meanings of the yellow tulip. Some of the most famous is 'friendship'. Then 'cheerfulness'. There are also negative meanings for it. People tend to do co notate flowers with negativity too, but I don't want to think of them as such."

"What kind of negative meanings?"

Ino paused a bit. She looked up at Gaara through her eyelashes. "_'Hopeless love'_. Or _'rejection of love'_."

Gaara tore his eyes away from her, returning them hastily to the pink papers. He poised his hands over it, but they didn't move from there.

Ino watched him uncomfortably. Sighing, she said, "Why don't we just… uhm… try to write something and then we can compare later for inaccuracies and inconsistencies?" she suggested.

Gaara started raking his teeth over his lower lip. He nodded silently, then stooped over his papers, as if in deep thought of what to write.

Ino mimicked him and she too, concentrated on her own work.

Thinking was starting to become really difficult for her. What do you usually say to a man who you're going to get married to, but _not really_ going get married to?

Stupid question.

She started to write whatever came to mind.

_Gaara, I take you to be my husband from this time onward, to join with you and to share all that is to come, to be your faithful wife, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond; a commitment made in love, kept in faith, and eternally made new._

Ino's hand paused, and she read what she had written. Face suddenly reddening, she crossed everything out, tore at the page and crumpled it. Gaara looked over to her at the sudden noise. Ino smiled hastily at him and bent over the paper again. She started over.

_Gaara, from the moment I met you, I knew you were going to be a very important part of my life. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggles. I promise you I will be by your side, in good times and in bad times, when life is easy and even more when it seems to get hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life._

She read it over, and just like the first, she crossed it all out and crumpled it into a tight ball, feeling faint.

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked suddenly.

Ino laughed nervously. "Sorry. Are you done?"

"Yes."

_Crap._

Ino tried again. The first two she wrote sounded so much like real wedding vows that it irked her too much. Well, considering she _was_ writing a wedding vow, they were supposed to _sound _like real wedding vows...

Which was exactly why they sounded so _insincere_.

She tried yet again.

_Gaara, there are a lot of _'could-have-beens'_ in my life, and a lot of _'what-ifs',_ but you have taught me that what I should cherish is the 'right-now'. And right now, it is YOU. I don't know what the future holds for us together, but as I look into your eyes, I feel like _'right-now'_ IS _'forever'._ I give myself to you, and promise that for how long _'forever'_ may be, I will keep the nightmares away, and hold you while you sleep. _

Her eyes scanned the paper with slightly blurry eyes. Everything had been a lie until now. The least she could do was write the truth.

Ino wiped at her eyes when she thought Gaara wasn't looking. "Done."

The corners of Gaara's mouth twitched, and he got up from his seat slowly, taking the chair right next to Ino. This was the nearest he's ever been to her in two days. One of his knees was brushing against her thigh, and she couldn't explain the tingling sensation it left against her skin. It was like wanting to move away, and at the same time wanting to scoot even closer.

She kept her eyes lowered to her lap. She didn't want to see his face when the tears from writing her heart out on that stupid piece of pink paper were already close to spilling.

She didn't even know why she was getting so emotional about this!

Was it because she and Gaara had suddenly stopped talking like before? Was it because they had stopped sharing the sheets at night in each others' arms, listening to the others breath until they fell asleep?

Or was it because now he was close enough for her to touch his face?

She looked up at him finally. He was already watching her, his own pink paper in one hand. She felt her own fingers quiver when Gaara gestured at it.

"Do I get to see?" he asked, unsure, the tip of his index finger brushed Ino's wedding vows.

Ino bit her lip, then after a thought nodded and handed it over to him. "We can change whatever seems too corny and all that."

Gaara took the paper from her, and gingerly, shyly, held his in exchange. "This is mine." He did not meet her gaze. He was already intent on reading her wedding vows for him.

Ino's hand shook as she turned over the sheet of paper.

As Temari had said, Gaara's weren't very long. In fact, it was so short – two sentences – that she didn't even have the chance to prepare for the emotional impact it whacked in her body as she looked down those four words that had caused the landslide of sensations to crash over her overwhelmingly that she had to gasp for air.

_I'm yours. You're mine._

She could remember it like it was yesterday. These were the words they had said to each other during the welcoming party. She had been helping him get into their role well. Everything had started there…

_Is this how it's going to end, I wonder?_

Ino felt a tear trickle down her cheek from the corner of her eye. Then another, and another. She pressed her hand over her mouth, no longer trying to wipe at the river cascading down her face.

Gaara was watching her calmly. Ino raised her eyes to his, and for the first time since they were together, she saw an emotion that was so very unfamiliar to her in those jade eyes of his; despair.

"_Why are you doing this to me?" _she sobbed, suddenly in desperate search of someone to blame for her pain.

Gaara dropped Ino's vows onto the floor uncaringly, and he reached out to her with shaky hands. His arms were instantly around her, fingers in her hair. She clung to him like her life depended on it, and she buried her face into his chest to smother her sobs. "I'm no good, Ino. When you first came here, you were so cheerful. You were always smiling. You've done so much for me that I can't ask you to do any more. If this is giving you so much pain, then I'm calling everything off. The mission, the wedding. I can't hurt you anymore… You don't have to do this anymore."

Ino squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face deeper into his shirt. She had heard him. She had heard every word. She didn't know if she should be happy or not. Her client had released her. Her mission was a failure, but it was officially over. And she cried. "B-but…!" She tried to put in a word. Her violent shaking was preventing her from even breathing properly.

Gaara tightened his hold onto her. "No more. No more, Ino. Let me handle the council. Let me handle everything. Ever since we learned of the wedding, you've been different. I tried to stay with you, but it wasn't the same. So I knew that it bothered you a lot. I told myself that I should just stop hiding behind you because of my issues, because I'm hurting you too much as it is. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

Ino grabbed the front of his shirt roughly and she cried some more. She was _free. _Her mission was over.

And Gaara… Gaara didn't need her any more.

Was she happy?

Was she sad?

She will leave a bad taste in the mouths of Gaara's council, and there was still the possibility – the necessity – for the Kazekage to marry.

But at least now, she wasn't random chick candidate number eighteen. And at least now, although she was back to her _what-ifs _and _what-could-have-beens_, Gaara was back at a chance at a dream.

She wanted to think this was enough to take the pain.

She was just not that strong enough. And so she cried like a little girl while Gaara stroked her hair gently. She wished he'd stop.

* * *

By the fourth day of Ino's fourth week, news spread through Suna like wildfire as the betrothal of Yamanaka Ino and Sabaku no Gaara on the twenty-eighth of April was suddenly put on an indefinite hold. Stories varied from one person to another. Some said that Yamanaka Ino got cold feet and said that she couldn't go on with the union, while some said that the Kazekage was the one who changed his mind. Some said that Yamanaka Ino actually had a boyfriend back home, and Gaara had found out and cancelled the wedding. Of course, none of them were true.

Talks with the jounin were a little less farfetched. They said that after all this time, their Gaara-sama just could not commit. After all, that had been his problem ever since then. And the jounin of Suna all thought it was such a shame, because Yamanaka Ino looked like she had _"broken through Gaara-sama's thick sand barrier and finally gotten close to opening him up." _No one really knew that she did not _come close _to opening him up. She actually _did._ As expected, no one even tried to clear that up.

Talks with the chuunin girls were very, very dramatic. They said that everything was going well, but Gaara-sama just wasn't that emotionally prepared enough to enter into a sexual relationship that _'just won't do'_ for a woman as _'experienced'_ as Ino-sama. Thank god those were just rumors, too.

The only ones who knew the truth about what had happened were Kankurou, Temari and, of course, the council. When Gaara had finally spilled the beans, the council was more sad than angry, really. They had gotten to like Yamanaka Ino. Ebizo-sama was particularly persistent for Gaara to just 'man up' and 'start from scratch with her', mission or no mission. But Gaara had already seen how broken Ino had become because of his cowardice to face his fate as the Kazekage.

And the last think Gaara wanted was to see Ino crying. No one knew that Ino's curled up and sobbing image had moved something within Gaara that was so very painful that he had been willing to give everything up just to make it stop. This, of course, Ino did not know. No one knew.

Except maybe for Kankurou and Temari, who Gaara had opened up about his true feelings for the Konoha kunoichi. The siblings had heard about Ino a lot from their brother from the moment she first came.

Gaara had said that he thought the kunoichi… _strange_. She had taken him shopping for food on her first day, and made him lunch that smelled nothing like he'd ever smelled before. That was the day when he first thought tomatoes weren't so bad. And hadn't Kankurou and Temari laughed at him in disbelief?

Their little brother had talked about how fussy the blonde was with her meals, making sure and practically forcing Gaara to _'eat his breakfast'_. He had told them about how Ino's eyes would fall on the box of food supplements he had at home and wrinkle her nose in disapproval that he was forced to bring the whole box to work just to stop the nose-wrinkling. He had expressed his frustration on the woman for the first time, especially when she nearly tried to snag the sofa from him when Kankurou had decorated his bedroom like a brothel.

Gaara had talked to Temari how Ino had looked so interestedly at the pictures lined in his office, and she would smile as she ran her fingers down the spine of the books in his shelf. He also spoke of how Ino's face had disapprovingly stared at the inside of his office refrigerator, because there were energy drinks in it. Gaara had asked her sister if she wanted energy drinks for free.

Gaara had also spoken to Kankurou the day after the night Ino was poisoned by the woman in the party, where he had to give her a good cold shower just to relieve her a bit. Gaara had asked Kankurou the reason why Ino had hugged him while they were talking ever so intimately behind the tables in the square. Gaara knew that Kankurou was weak when it came to beautiful women and he warned him not to be rude to the Konoha representative. Kankurou had not miss the slight undertone that Gaara had just referred to Ino as 'beautiful'.

Temari had heard of Gaara talking about Ino's hobbies, and she was surprised to learn Gaara had asked Iwate to bring back colorful pots and flower seeds just for Ino. She had teased Gaara for it, but the man had just shrugged her away, but she knew that Gaara had allotted a few minutes a day to order their botanists to clear a whole greenhouse for Ino's disposal to propagate her tulips and cosmos. And wasn't that the time Temari thought his office started to smell suspiciously of chamomile? Strange.

Kankurou had heard of a lot of defensive explanations from Gaara the morning when he had walked in on his brother in bed with the Konoha kunoichi. Gaara had ordered him – _ordered him!_ – not to get the wrong idea. Kankurou had said sure, but as he watched his brother that day, Kankurou had thought how a few hours of sleep did wonders to Gaara's mood. And was that a blush he had detected when it was time for him to go home? Because he said that Ino's cooking was amazing, and he said that he could always request what he wanted for dinner. Now, hadn't he thought that sweet?

Temari couldn't forget the many times she got scolded when Ino got into a fight with the daughters. But the worst yet was when Ino had gotten poisoned for the second time. Gaara had been mad. No, Gaara had been _very _mad! And that had been the first time anyone ever dared get into a verbal argument with the Kazekage. Temari didn't really know what had transpired between Gaara and Ino then, but when Gaara had knocked on her door at five in the morning carrying a cloak and canteen filled with tea, he had looked so disoriented that Temari couldn't help but joke, _'If you love her so much, you shouldn't have picked a fight with her'_. And Gaara's answer had been, _'I know. I'll apologize when she comes home.'_

And that had been the start of everything.

And then Kankurou had been pestered by Gaara on methods on how to apologize to women. It had been the middle of the night when he bumped into Gaara smuggling papers from his office and he had asked the question out of the blue. Kankurou listened patiently to what Gaara had to say, but he was just so tired that instead of giving him a good enough advice, he just brushed it off and said, _'Oh, just kiss and make up already.'_ And Yamanaka didn't speak to Kankurou for six days. Gaara had been relatively happier after that day, though. Very strange.

Then there was a time when Kankurou and Temari ended up talking about Ino and Gaara because the changes were so hard to ignore already, and they were genuinely starting to get curious. Temari spoke of Ino's feelings about Gaara, and Kankurou spoke of Gaara's for Ino's. Because Gaara had started getting jealous when Kankurou relayed that small joke of Ino having a boyfriend back home, and the way Ino had been stressing about Gaara lately.

Both of them knew something had to change.

But they also knew that Ino and Gaara had to realize it themselves. So without Gaara knowing, Kankurou and Temari had sworn not to interfere with their little love-affair-but-not-really-a-love-affair.

But as Temari watched Ino pack her bags in a hurry that fifth day of her fourth week, she had been tempted to stop her, scream at her for being too dense and throw her towards Gaara's office, where the Kazekage had buried himself into an insane amount of work, letting his secretaries all have a paid leave that day. Kankurou was with him, convincing him that this was not how it was supposed to end.

And Gaara would only shake his head as he read – or pretended to read– a document upside down. And Kankurou would tell him, _'You're letting go of the only girl who's ever tried to get to know you for who you are! Is this okay with you?'_ in which Gaara would answer,_ 'If that's what's going to make her happy, who am I to stop her?'_ like the uncaring man that he was, even when his heart was already breaking inside.

And Kankurou would call him stupid as he watched him pretend to be busy.

And Temari would call her stupid as she watched her walk out of the gates of Suna.

And they couldn't do anything because they promised not to interfere.

* * *

**A/N: Angst. Sadness. Dramaaaaa… ! **

**And one more chapter to go!**

**Thanks for the reviews and faves!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Arrangement**

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

Ino traveled from Suna to Konoha in a daze. She didn't even realize it took her four days to get home, when it usually took just three. She didn't care. Her mind had been reeling from the roller coaster of emotions she had been experiencing for the past days she had been away.

Never in her life would she have thought that she'd have any kind of connection with the Kage of Suna. Aside from the man being a really close friend of Naruto's, and the fact that he was once a jinchuuriki, she had known absolutely _nothing_ about him.

And now… she knew too much… so much, in fact, that she had fallen completely, madly in love with him.

This was probably the first time she'd ever compromised a mission because of her personal feelings. She knew that she should be scolding herself for such a lack of display of professionalism. But instead, her mind was filled with thoughts of Gaara, what he was doing right now, and if he was thinking about her, too.

_Of course not. Why on earth would he be thinking of _you_?_

No, Ino did not believe she was suffering from mild depression when she got back from her almost-month-long mission. Naruto had commented that she looked _'different',_ though, and tried to ask her what had happened that resulted to the mission's failure. And because it was Ino's obligation to report to her higher-up, she told him the truth: how she had managed to chase away majority of the daughters and the delegates away from Suna, and the way she had successfully convinced the council of her and Gaara's relationship. She relayed to Naruto how everything backfired and how the council had pulled the rug under them and set a date for a wedding that was not supposed to take place.

"We were forced to withdraw, and the Kazekage-sama had agreed that it was the wisest thing to do. My report ends here," Ino said monotonously as she snapped the mission file she had in her hand. She didn't even know why she bothered to pretend opening it to begin with. After all, it had been empty from the very moment her mission started.

Naruto was sitting behind the clutter on his desk, knuckles under his chin. He was looking at Ino thoughtfully with those sharp blue eyes of his. The man was uncharacteristically serious. Ino met his gaze flatly with her own blue eyes. She didn't know if Gaara had mentioned anything to Naruto about what had really happened, but Ino thought that her feelings for Gaara had nothing to do with Naruto or the village, and so did not feel at all entitled to spill her heart out to the man.

Naruto finally freed his knuckles from under his chin and he plucked a scroll from his left side. "Thanks for your hard work, Ino," Naruto started. "By the way, a messenger hawk came ahead of you with a letter from Gaara." He eyed Ino curiously. "Here." He held it out for Ino.

Ino unconsciously took a step back. "Ah… "

Naruto lowered the scroll on his desk. "It came with a bag of ry o. His payment for your services."

Ino did not know what to say to that. She had failed the mission. Gaara was not required to pay for a mission not met by the village. She did not know why, but the thought of receiving his money insulted her.

"Don't you want to see what's inside the scroll? It's addressed to you, you know." Naruto dangled the scroll in front of her again. "Take it. I don't care if you read it or not. Just take it."

Ino hesitated a bit before finally taking the scroll from Naruto, who was watching her every move. "You know, I was expecting you to be fuming in anger at me for sending you to this kind of mission. You were already seething before you left a month ago. And instead, you're… calm. So calm it's almost scary. Care to talk about it?"

Ino stared down at the scroll for a whole minute, contemplating as to whether she should read it or not.

"Come back to us, Ino. What planet are you visiting?" Naruto said in a sing-song voice as he waved at her from behind his cluttered desk.

Ino looked up at him, her eyes grazing the mess in his office. She remembered Gaara's office was much, much neater. There were no half-eaten instant ramen bowls sitting on the floor by his chair. And he kept his books neat in a shelf, unlike Naruto whose books were all in a pile right next to the shelf where they were supposed to be arranged.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you ever clean your lair?" she asked.

Naruto grinned at Ino, as if the angry tone she had was what Naruto wanted to hear. "Ah, there you go. You sound almost back to normal. And no, I _don't_ clean my lair. I like it messy. It's an organized mess. I know where what is if it's this messy."

"I don't believe you. Where are your extra quill pens?"

Naruto waved randomly over his shoulder. "Somewhere between the pile of garbage and stacks of very unkempt papers." He leaned forward on his desk again. "You have the week off, Ino. I promised you a week's leave with pay. If you don't want to talk about it with me, you're dismissed."

Ino sighed in relief. She had gone straight to Naruto when she got back from her mission. Now all she needed was a very, very warm shower and a soak in her tub. And maybe a few glasses of _saké_. Ino nodded. "I'm leaving then. If you need anything, don't bother to call for me. I mean it."

Naruto's grin widened. "You really okay? Gaara's treated you well enough, right?"

Ino's mood suddenly plummeted to the ground. She nodded anyway. "He was a perfect gentleman."

"Aha!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. "So _that's _it! You were playing the role of Gaara's lover. Perhaps you were expecting something more than – _OW!"_

Ino had thrown the scroll she had in her hand. It hit Naruto smack on his forehead. "Next time, before you assign a mission, get all the freaking details!"

Naruto was rubbing his forehead painfully. "It was a joke! God! No one can take a joke anymore." He picked up the scroll that had fallen on his lap. "Oh, and don't forget – "

It was too late. Ino had stormed out of Naruto's office.

" – your scroll…" Naruto stared at the empty space in front of him where Ino had been standing just a second ago.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi had always been a calm, perceptive man. He was twenty-two when he got married to the beautiful daughter of the village florist, and he was twenty-three when his only daughter, Ino, was born. Chouza and Shikaku had been rubbing it in his face for having a daughter instead of a son, but Inoichi didn't care. He'd thought that Ino was the most beautiful baby in the world, and that he didn't care at all that she was a girl.

But as he came home from work at around seven in the evening and found said daughter back from her month-long mission, sitting in their living room couch with her purple comforter twisted around her feet and a pint of her favorite chocolate and mint ice cream perched on a knee, he was starting to wonder if he would have had problems like these if he'd had a son instead.

Ino was staring straight at the TV, totally absorbed in a commercial of seaweed-flavored noodles. She had a spoon in her mouth, and her hair was hanging damp and loose over her shoulders, signs that she had just gotten out of the shower. Inoichi noted that she was already in her pajamas. And it wasn't even past nine.

Inoichi cleared his throat, and that was the only time Ino tore her gaze away from the TV. "Oh, hi dad. Didn't hear you come in."

Inoichi walked into the living room and sat on the chair to Ino's right. "Yeah. I get that a lot lately." He leaned his head on the back of the seat. "Seaweed ramen?"

"Yeah," Ino said, sticking more ice cream into her mouth. "Probably going to taste something like seaweed."

"Yeah. Probably," Inoichi agreed.

"Mom's at the Inuzuka's. She said she'd be back in a few."

"Okay."

"There's spaghetti in the kitchen."

"Okay."

And they were silent.

Inoichi cleared his throat. "So. Anything I can do to help you out?"

Ino let her gaze wander to him. "What?" she asked, bored.

"Something bad happened, right?"

Ino snorted and stabbed the remaining of her ice cream with her spoon. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you're wearing your pajamas before nine, you're stuffing your face with ice cream, and you're watching TV. You hate TV."

"That's not true. I like TV."

Inoichi signed. Ino only said she liked TV when she was bothered because she can pretend she was watching it, even when there really wasn't anything interesting on. "I've known you since you were in diapers. You'd think I'd know if something was off with my own daughter."

Ino sighed, peered into her ice cream and, as if in a test of courage, grabbed her spoon again and started shoveling everything into her mouth. Ino only did that when she wanted an excuse to stop talking.

"Was it the mission?"

Ino shrugged and kept on eating.

"Was it because you failed a mission?"

Another shrug.

Inoichi threw caution to the wind. "Was it because of a guy?"

Ino started coughing violently, nearly splattering ice cream everywhere.

Inoichi stared at his daughter dryly. She was such an honest girl that reading her didn't even require his skill. He leaned forward on his seat. "Care to tell me about it?" It had been four years since he'd last smelled a guy lingering around his little girl. He wondered if it had anything to do with her mission, though he doubted it. She hardly knew anyone from the Sand, and aside from the girl Shikamaru's been eyeing, Ino didn't have any certain association with Suna.

Ino frowned at him and brandished her spoon at him like a weapon. "Even if it is about a guy, what makes you think I'm telling _you_, dad?"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow at her. She was blushing. This must be some guy. Being his only daughter, Inoichi had always been protective of her, especially since she'd started wearing that tiny little skirt around town. She was a pretty girl and she knew it, and she had mastered the art of seduction to the tee from Tsunade herself, before the woman had retired. And hadn't the Fifth Hokage been the epitome of 'woman'?

Ino seemed like she was able to use those tricks unconsciously; it was like she was capable of turning on her charms without even knowing it. When she was eighteen, she'd had a handful of boys eating out of her hand. Daddy didn't even know if he should have been worried or proud.

And so seeing his little girl – his little girl who could twist a man around her pinky finger – blushing at the mere thought of a boy… well…

Inoichi frowned. A boy from Suna? Impossible…

"Stop that," Ino demanded.

Inoichi jumped. "What?"

"That look."

"What look?"

"_That_ look. You used to give me that look when I was fifteen when a boy dropped by the flower shop to buy flowers for his mother."

Inoichi grinned mirthlessly. Flowers for his mother, indeed. He had been fifteen once. And he had bought flowers _'for his mother'_ every day just to have an excuse to see his present wife everyday. "I'm not giving you any kind of look, tulip. You're too old for that." _Old_ being the operative word. Could it be she had finally found a good enough man to bring home and introduce to his old man?

Ino deposited her empty ice cream cup on their center table and swung her legs down the sofa and into her fluffy slippers. "Exactly. Even if it were about some boy – _which it isn't_ – I don't think you have any right to meddle with my affairs because I'm not a child anymore."

Inoichi leaned back in his seat and eyed Ino's face. He detected the vertical crease between her eyebrows, the way the corners of her mouth were turned down. Oh, something was bothering her, all right. And it was definitely about a guy. "That's not true. I don't care if you're fifteen, or fifty. You'll always be my little Ino. And I know when you're not happy. And you're not happy right now."

Ino made a small, annoyed noise, though she did not get up and leave him alone in the living room. Back when she was younger, she would retreat into her room when Inoichi tried to talk to her. But right now, it looked like his daughter really needed to blow off some steam.

"Have you met someone?" Inoichi asked slowly.

Ino's face reddened several shades. "Pff – ! Nu – ! You don't ask your daughter if she's met a guy that bluntly!" she started saying things about discretion, and something of the like. Inoichi listened with half an ear.

Back when Ino was younger, he had always worried about her taste in men. Not that she had _bad_ taste. (She was a _Yamanaka_, of course she had good taste.) And that was why he had worried about her. Inoichi had heard of her daughter being seen with this boy or that, all of them he knew by name because they were jounin he had gotten to work with him on some occasions. Much to Inoichi's surprise, however, Ino hadn't brought a single one home. He did not know if it was Ino herself who didn't want to introduce her boys to her parents, or it was the boy who had the problem of facing her father. He had a hunch it was the latter. Ino didn't date anyone if she wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with him.

"I… I could have. Met someone, I mean. Maybe."

"You mean there really _is _a guy?" Inoichi's eyes nearly bugged out.

Ino scowled at him. "I said _maybe_. Okay?" She looked away. "There _could_ be a boy involved."

"What's his name? Where does he live? What does he do for a living?"

Ino stared at him in disbelief. She shook her head. "What on earth am I thinking, trying to tell you all this? Forget it."

Inoichi watched as she started picking at invisible lint on her comforter. "So… you like this guy, eh?"

It was Ino's turn to jump. "What? No, I never said that. He's just another guy. And you know how guys are."

No, actually Inoichi _didn't _know how guys were. Given he was a guy and all. He nodded anyway. "Yes, well… Guys are guys." It was not like Ino to stereotype people, and her conveniently categorizing the male species like that was not her style. He tried a different approach. "Did he do something wrong? You look very bothered about this." Of course, Inoichi doubted it. If the guy had done something wrong, Ino would have dealt with him accordingly instead of drowning herself in ice cream.

Ino wilted in the couch and she pulled her knees back up to her chest. "Done anything wrong? Well… maybe he did…"

"What did he do?"

Ino started to struggle with the question. "He…"

"Yeah?"

Ino's hand was on her nose bridge in a second. She did that when she was thinking really hard, or trying hard to ward away a migraine. "He… he didn't do anything wrong, dad. He was perfect. He was everything I could ever want in a guy."

This got Inoichi _really_ interested. Anything she could ever want in a guy, huh? "If he's that perfect, then it's obvious he was lying to you. He sounds fishy to me."

Ino let out a strangled sound before rounding on him. "He wasn't lying. He was perfectly honest to me!"

"Then he must be a _very good_ liar. So good, in fact, that you didn't know he was lying to you."

"Oh, stop it," Ino grumbled. "He's a very respectable man. He wouldn't lie. And he _didn't._"

"Respectable man? What does he do?"

Ino blushed, thought for a second. "He's a very important person involved in Suna's village affairs."

Inoichi was surprised. So it really _was _a boy from Suna. Did she meet him in her mission? One month was considerably long. "I don't know many people in Suna, but Shikamaru seems to be getting quite cozy with a woman from there, and our Hokage thinks pretty highly of the young Kazekage of theirs."

Ino started coughing violently. "I think I need water…" She hurriedly made an escape to their kitchen.

Inoichi followed her slowly. "Well, you know I won't embarrass you with talks about what men are _really _after in a girl. If you were sixteen, I'd have told you, 'Ino, stay away from them boys. All they want is to get into your pants.' But since you're not sixteen, here's what I'll tell you: 'If you love him, and if it's bothering you this much to be away from him, then by all means marry him.' And while you're at it, hurry up and give me a grandchild. A boy, preferably. Girls are too high-maintenance, and I'm too old to worry about your third generation."

Ino, who was in the act of retrieving a glass from the cupboard, nearly dropped said glass on the counter. She caught it just in time with a shaky hand before turning around to face him incredulously. "You're my father! Shouldn't you be, like, sad and all at the mere thought of me getting married?"

"Not when you're nearly thirty and you're still living with your parents," Inoichi pointed out. "That, and I haven't seen you this affected by a single guy since… well… I've _never _seen you this affected by a single guy."

Ino sighed in resignation and abandoned the glass on the counter. "It's no use, dad. It won't work between us. He's just not… He wants something that I know he deserves to have. And the moment I accepted that mission, I was already out of the race."

Inoichi leaned on the back of one of the chairs around their dining table. "So you're giving up on him?"

"I _already _gave up on him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Inoichi paused before saying, "So he just wasn't that worth it."

Ino sputtered a few random words. It was one of those rare moments when Yamanaka Ino looked like she had run out of words to say. And that meant one thing: the man that had stolen his daughter's heart was one heck of a guy.

"I'm doing him a favor," Ino said softly and she lowered her chin to her chest, her face hiding behind her long bangs, defeated. "Can we… can we stop talking about this? Please?"

She was begging. And she didn't even try to cover up her weakness with anger, like she always tried to do. Inoichi squeezed the back of the chair thoughtfully. "All right, tulip." He strode over to the covered plate of pasta his wife had left for him on the pantry, then turned to Ino. "It's a shame, though. I would have loved to meet him."

* * *

On the third day of Ino's week off, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata dragged Ino out of her house and into the Yakiniku place for a girl's night out. It was horrible. She knew they wanted to do this to squeeze out juicy details about her mission, because they all knew that the only things that could affect Ino's cheerful disposition were: one, weight gain, and two, a man. And since they all knew Ino was still looking definitely fit and sexy… well… they could put two and two together. It must _definitely_ be because of a man.

Ino stared around the table forlornly as she raised her cup of sake to her mouth to hide the scowl forming on her lips. Tenten and Hinata had their heads together over the menu, deciding which meat to order.

"Beef? Pork?" The weapon's mistress suggested as she pointed at the menu with a finger.

"Beef. And maybe a bit of liver." Hinata said.

Ino's head shot up at the mention of liver. She cursed herself for being so jumpy, because Sakura, who was sitting beside her and looking at her own menu, turned towards her curiously.

"Everything all right?" her best friend asked, leaning forward and peering up her face.

Ino shrugged. "Of course. Why shouldn't I be?"

Sakura, thank god, believed her and went back to her menu and hailed a waitress over. The three girls started spouting out orders to the waitress.

"And we'll have that for now," Sakura said in the end. The pink-haired kunoichi was the mastermind of today's gathering. And although Ino knew she meant well, she was just not in the mood to celebrate. Her waking hours had been plagued with red hair and green eyes so much that functioning as a normal human being had been difficult. Even her father had noticed. And that was just not a good sign.

She cursed Gaara for making her fall for him like this.

The thought froze in her head before she realized how unfair that was to the man. He had done everything in his power to make it right in the end, even when it meant admitting to his whole village that he had lied to them. He had ended the lie, and Ino knew that she should have been happy about it. But then why was she so bothered? Why was it that when she had packed her bags and left Suna, Gaara was not there to stop her?

_Did I want him to actually stop me from leaving?_

Stupid question.

She took a big gulp of her drink and leaned back in her seat. She was surprised when she saw all three of her friends looking at her worriedly.

"You drink like a sailor. You drink like me. I'm so proud," Tenten said smiling, pushing her own drink away and resting her elbows on the table.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ino?" Hinata asked quietly, her white eyes scanning Ino's face.

Sakura sighed. "Ino, we know something's up. The moment you got back from your mission, you were like this zombie, and you tried to avoid talking to me about it for days now."

"That's not true. I wasn't avoiding you. Any of you," Ino said defensively. She was starting to get uncomfortable, because she did not like it when she lied to her friends. They had always been together since their first chuunin exams, and they had been her support group while growing up. But can she talk about this to them? Some of the missions a ninja took required a certain code of secrecy, and although Ino knew that the mission she had with Gaara was more of a favor from Naruto than anything else, she was wondering if it were all right to talk about what had transpired between her and the Kazekage.

_Not to mention the fact that one of the reasons why I failed it was because I had fallen madly in love with the man. _

Damn her. _Damn. Damn. Damn_.

"You have that faraway look in your eyes again," Sakura pointed as she tried to act busy with working the grill in front of them. "Something happened in Suna. And you can't hide it from us."

"Is this… is this because of a guy?" Hinata asked, face suddenly turning red with hope. "Have you finally met someone?"

Tenten giggled excitedly. "After four years of celibacy, have you finally realized you need a man in your life?"

Ino scowled at Tenten and Hinata. "Oh, I see where this is going. You two are happy with your own men that you want me to hook up with someone, too." She turned to Sakura. "Tell them to stop, Sakura. Tell them that being single isn't as bad as it looks."

Sakura backed away from her a bit in her seat. "Hey, just because I'm single and your single doesn't put us on the same side. We're here because you're keeping a secret from your friends."

Tenten's chocolate eyes sparkled as she gave Ino a knowing look. "You met someone in Suna, didn't you? And I bet it had been amazing, and then you find out he didn't feel the same about you!"

Ino's heart clenched so tightly in her chest that she couldn't breathe. What Tenten said came so close to the truth that hearing it come from someone else's mouth hurt physically. She shook a fist at Tenten. "When you and Neji have a fight, don't you come running to me when you need a place to sleep, you spineless fish!"

Tenten laughed happily at her reaction. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Hinata turned to Tenten disapprovingly. "Tenten! Don't be so callous about this! What if it's true?"

Tenten brushed the Hyuuga's comment aside. "That's impossible. We're talking about Ino here. No man can resist that face, right Ino?"

Ino's eyes were trained to the grill, and she barely heard them talking around her. Come to think of it, what _did _Gaara think about her? What did Gaara _feel? _She had been so caught up in her own emotions that she wasn't even able to see Gaara one more time to say thank you and goodbye.

_He must think you're a real ass. _

Ino forced a smile on her face. "Fine. I did meet someone. And he was amazing. But you win some, you lose some, I guess," she said, trying to be vague.

Sakura's face suddenly darkened. _"He turned you down?"_

_Well, not really…_

Hinata gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "No!"

Tenten was already in a bout of disbelief. "But why? What an idiot! He's probably some insecure ass who has a small – "

"Tenten!" Sakura hissed. "We'll use our creative vocabulary when we're not in public."

Ino laughed a bit, suddenly feeling faint. Well, she surely did not think Gaara was an insecure ass. Although she couldn't really defend him with Tenten's latter accusation. The mere thought of it made her blush. She started to fan herself. "It's all right, guys. It's not like it's the end of the world. I'll meet others."

It was so easy to say. But she didn't know why it bothered her. Maybe it was because she did not want to meet _others_.

_I just want_ him.

The waitress came, and Ino was glad for the distraction as all kinds of raw, sliced meat were laid out in front of her to grill. Unfortunately, her friends were far from done.

"Who is this guy, anyway? He seems so full of himself that he had the nerve to reject our Ino," Tenten fumed as she flung three pieces of liver onto the grill all at once.

Ino eyed the liver slices in horror. She watched them shirk and shrivel in the fire. "You wouldn't know him," she lied.

_He just happens to be the Kazekage. No big deal_.

"What's his name? I've been to Suna a few times to conduct lessons in poison making and antidote development," Sakura said as she turned over a piece of veal in the grill. "I might know who he is."

Ino shook her head quickly. "I doubt it."

"Really? I might – "

"_You don't know him," _Ino insisted.

Tenten narrowed her eyes at her. "You're hiding something from us." She then turned to Sakura. "I bet she fell in love with a very unattractive guy, and she's ashamed because he's short, and has a unibrow."

Ino knew Tenten was being serious, but she ended up laughing at her comment. "A unibrow?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Yeah."

Ino fanned the hand holding her chopsticks in front of her face. "Trust me, he is _attractive_. And _tall_. And the best abs you've ever seen. And he doesn't even have eyebrows." She had let the words slip out without realizing it.

All three eyes zoned in on her as she laughed quietly.

"Oh, god. Unibrow…" Ino snickered as she busied herself with the three pieces of liver on the grill. When she finally realized her friends had gone silent, she looked up, smiling. "What?"

"Ino, you… " Tenten started, mouth hanging open.

Hinata was blushing like crazy, her chopsticks poised in mid-poke.

Sakura's face suddenly brightened in realization. "Oh, god."

Ino's smile slipped from her face. "What? What did I say?"

Sakura cleared her throat. "Ino, the man who rejected you… he doesn't happen to have…. Uh… flaming red hair, does he?"

Ino's smile completely vanished from her face.

"Uhm… h-he doesn't have a red kanji mark on his forehead that reads uhm… 'love', does he?" Hinata squeaked in her small voice. She was nervous. Hinata only stuttered when she was nervous.

Tenten's mouth had opened widely into a silent 'O'.

Ino dropped her chopsticks onto the table. Damn it all! She did not just give herself away!

Sakura grabbed her around the neck with a firm arm and pulled her down on the table. "Tell me you did not fall in love with Gaara of the Sand."

Ino wanted to die then and there. She let her best friend wrestle her to the table, nearly knocking down a plate of sausages. There was no use in hiding it from them. The cat was out of the bag. "What if I tell you that he _is_ the guy that I fell in love with?" she asked in a small voice.

Sakura paused, almost in disbelief, and she let go of Ino's neck. Tenten and Hinata looked almost as shocked as she was. Ino stared at the liver on the grill. They had already started to burn black. She retrieved her chopsticks and saved them from total annihilation.

Tenten slammed her palm on the table, making their orders jump a few inches into the air. "Ino."

Ino looked up in surrender. "Uhm, yeah?"

"We have all night. Start talking."

And so she did. And it _did_ take all night. She had wanted to tell them briefly of what really happened, about the mission, about Gaara's predicament, about how she had ended up having feelings for the man. But her friends didn't want brief explanations. No. They wanted the _whole thing_. So they asked about it, trying to squeeze out every stinking detail.

And so she told them everything. _Every stinking detail_.

And in the end this was what they had to tell her:

"You. Are. An. Idiot!" Tenten seethed, and it had nothing to do with the massive amounts of alcohol she had consumed while Ino had been busy with relaying them the story.

"What? Why am I an idiot?" Ino demanded. "I did what I had to do, for the sake of the man, and you call me an idiot?"

Sakura was leaning back on her seat, staring at the ceiling. "You are impossible," she droned. "The man was obviously into you!"

"You don't know that! He never said anything!" Ino said loudly.

"You were practically _sleeping _with him!" Tenten pointed out.

"And he likes your cooking," Hinata added softly.

"That's trivial," Ino said.

Sakura groaned loudly. "If what you told us was as accurate as I know it is, I'd say the man was madly in love with you."

"_You should have just married him!_ Poor guy!" Tenten cried.

"Hey, whose side are you on? You're _my _friends, remember?" Ino said, feeling a bit hurt. If it had been up to her, she would have preferred not to tell them about it. And now that she finally did, they were acting as if she was the bad guy!

Tenten wagged a finger at her. "You're a _Yamanaka_. Why didn't you know what he was feeling for you?"

"What?" Ino demanded in frustration. "I can't believe this! Weren't you listening to what I just told you? The man wants something more than what I can offer! I was just hired help! I couldn't give him the romance that he wanted." God. Now she was starting to feel really bad. She turned to Hinata. "You understand, Hinata, right? You know what I'm trying to say?"

The Hyuuga looked up from the cooked chicken sitting on her plate and gave Ino a pained smile. "Can I ask you a question, Ino?"

Ino swallowed. "Sure."

"Between all the caresses, and the embraces, and the make-up kisses, when did he supposedly _'reject'_ your feelings?"

Ino swallowed. "I don't get the question."

Hinata was patient with her. "You said earlier, before we found out that it was Gaara-san, you didn't deny that he rejected your feelings. When did he reject you?"

Ino was silent for a moment, before finally admitting, "He didn't. I never bothered to ask."

Sakura and Tenten looked like they were about to explode into another frenzy of complains. Hinata shushed them with a hand, then turned to Ino and said, "What Gaara-san wants in a relationship is something _he _has to decide, not _you_. And given that you never bothered to tell the man your feelings and assumed that he didn't feel the same way was very unfair, and very childish, especially when you left without saying goodbye."

And that was when the reality started kicking in.

Because Hinata, Tenten and Sakura were right.

She _was_ an idiot. And it was just too late.

* * *

A month after she got back to the Leaf, Ino was already willing to move on with her life and bury the wonderful memories she had spent with the Kazekage, because she knew that she couldn't blame herself forever for it. There had been times in the day when she would still catch herself thinking about Gaara, especially when she drank tea. She would wonder if he had finally found a bride, or if the council had found one for him. That thought would bring sharp, stabbing pains in her chest, and at some occasions she had found herself running to the toilet before the tears spilled down her face because of the memory.

She had decided to bury herself in work, and Sakura gave her long hours in the hospital, though her best friend disapproved of it. Ino had assured Sakura that she would be fine, and she took the long night shifts the whole month of May, loving the fact that she was always preoccupied and busy, and very dead tired after work to even think about the man with the flaming red hair.

Hinata, Sakura and Tenten had been supportive, and much to her surprise, even her father understood her. They never bothered to ask her about anything concerning that mission she had done in Suna, and she was grateful. Naruto was probably the only one dense enough to ask about what had happened, and she had to ask Hinata to tell Naruto off, and he finally backed down.

So by the end of that month, she had finally found peace in work, and rest in fatigue. And everything was good.

Until one fine Sunday, at the end of May, when her past started to catch up with her.

It was seven in the morning when it all began, an hour before her shift ended. Sakura had come in to tell her there was something serious going on in the Yamanaka compound.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" Ino asked worriedly as she stood from the office table where she had been arranging patients' portfolios alphabetically.

Sakura took down one of the lab gowns she had hanging on the peg behind the door. "I passed by the flower shop and your father was there and he asked me to tell you to come home as fast as you can. I noticed a large group of people crowding your garden, though, but I didn't stop to snoop around and came here as fast as I could. I'll cover the remaining hour of your shift. You should go."

Ino was already taking off her own lab gown. She hoped it wasn't her mother, or her grand parents. "Thanks. What could it be?"

Sakura's face was unreadable as she herded her out the door. "Just go. The sooner you get there, the sooner you'd know."

Ino nodded. "I'm off then," she said and whirled around, running down the hallway, missing the small smile that had curved Sakura's lips.

Her heart was thundering in her ribcage as she flew down the street leading to her house. Sakura was right. There was a huge crowd of onlookers in front of her garden, and her throat closed up at the possibility of who could have been injured during a mission.

"Pardon me. Coming through," Ino muttered as she elbowed her way through the crowd, annoyed that there had to be so many of them rubber-necking into someone else's business. You'd think no one had anything better to do at seven in the morning but ogle someone's household.

Shikamaru was the one who welcomed her by the door, and she practically tackled the man to the ground.

"Is someone hurt? What happened?" she demanded.

Shikamaru grabbed her shoulders and pried her away from him. He had a bored look on his face, as always, and he said, "Sheesh! Calm down. Everything's all right."

Ino gestured behind her. "Are you sure? Sakura said I needed to get here as fast as I could. And… and these people – " The words were cut off when an amused-looking Temari stepped out of the door. The woman looked from Shikamaru to Ino.

"Ah, you're finally here. Everyone's shocked to see us," Temari said, looking hassled.

Ino stared at her as if she were hallucinating. "Temari?" she asked, shocked. Before she could even ask any more questions, she threw her arms around her. "Oh, my god! You're here? You're here! _Why _are you here?"

Temari pulled away from her, smiling. "You look well. How are things?"

Ino laughed. "Everything's been all right. I've missed you!" She gave Temari one final hug before finally giving her a bit of space. "Is there anything wrong?" And as if finally remembering, she turned to Shikamaru. "What's going on?"

Shikamaru darted a quick look at Temari, who shrugged. Shikamaru sighed. "I think it would be easier if you just stepped inside. Your old man's waiting for you."

"My dad? But… why? What's going on? And these people? It's like they've seen a celebrity or something."

Temari had an arm around her shoulder. "Let's just go, all right. I'm not even sure why you're more surprised than we are. I was so certain you'd be happy to see us."

Ino felt her knees turn to lead as she was stirred into her own house. She could hear her father talking as she approached the living room.

"… was sure she would have told me if she knew. Though I never would have thought it would be _you_. Of all people."

Ino froze in her tracks. She looked up at Temari. "W-what's going on?" she asked nervously.

Temari didn't bother to answer her. She shoved her through the door to her receiving room.

Ino staggered forward, nearly falling on her face as her toe got caught at the edge of the carpet. She balanced herself on a chair and looked up to see what was going on.

And there, sitting on their couch right across Yamanaka Inoichi, was the man that had been invading her dreams for many nights now.

And in his hands was Ino's baby photo album, which was conveniently opened on the page where Ino was two, and her mother was changing her diaper.

"There she is," Inoichi said proudly, not the least bit guilty that he had betrayed his own daughter by divulging to a foreigner her naked baby pictures.

Ino straightened when Gaara looked up from her photo album and those deep green eyes met hers. It had been a mere month she hadn't seen him, but it was as if his beauty had magnified tenfold. His hair was strangely neat, the spikes a bit tamed over his forehead. She wanted to run her fingers through them to mess them up, just to make sure that it was really him.

And he nodded. "Hello," he said.

Words betrayed her then, and she blinked several times to make sure that he wasn't some sort of mirage. When she'd finally gotten hold of herself, she turned to her father. "What's going on here?"

Inoichi raised his eyebrows. "You tell me. I didn't know he was coming over to see you."

Ino paled. "Because I didn't know!"

That was when Gaara finally closed her photo album – thank god! – and stood from his place on the couch. "Why didn't you know? I sent word the moment you left Suna a month ago that I'll be coming by the end of May."

Ino's mouth opened and closed like a fish, floundering around for any possible hint that he had given her about such a visit. None came to mind. "That's not true! I never received – oh…" And then it hit her.

"_On your way back, a messenger hawk came ahead of you with a letter from Gaara," _Naruto's voice rang through her mind.

Now that she thought about it, there had been a scroll waiting for her when she got back from Suna.

And she had chucked it into Naruto's forehead without even bothering to read it…

Ino used the chair to keep herself from falling over. "Oh… oh, god."

"You didn't get it?" Gaara asked, a bit disappointed.

Ino ducked her head sheepishly. "I attacked Naruto with it. I never got to read what was inside," she admitted weakly.

Gaara was silent, and he looked from Ino to Inoichi, who was now waiting for what was going to happen next.

Ino shook her head. "But never mind. What are you doing here?" Her heart was beating a mile a minute. In the wilder, most optimistic parts of her subconscious, she was thinking that he was here because of her.

"_I'm here to ask your hand in marriage, Yamanaka Ino. Do you accept?"_

"_Oh, bring it on, baby!"_

She snapped back into reality as Gaara walked towards her. Here it was. He was going to tell her that he loved her and that he shouldn't have let it go in the first place, and then he was going to sweep her off her feet and they were going to ride out into the sunset on a white horse!

Gaara stopped right in front of her, those serious eyes that she had missed so much were keen on her face as he looked down on her. "I'm getting married," he said.

The smile Ino didn't even know was there on her mouth froze instantly. "What?"

Gaara didn't even blink. "I'm getting married, Ino. The same day you left Suna, the council had decided for me, and so I sent a letter to you to inform you of the outcome of your mission with us."

_He's getting… married…?_

But what about her white horse and her sunset?

Now, in any normal circumstance, she would have pretended that it didn't bother her, that she was happy for him, and that she wished the best for him and his soon-to-be wife. (May she die a slow and painful death…) But right now, all she could think of was the fist that had plunged into her chest and started squeezing the life out of her heart.

She wavered and Gaara's hand was supporting her arm to keep her from falling. "Y-you're getting married? Really?"

"Yes," Gaara said. "Are you all right?"

Ino felt her skin sizzle where his hand was holding her up. The reality started to crash around her like dominos, and she fought to keep her stinging eyes from excreting tears that would be too embarrassing to shed in front of her father, who was shaking his head for some reason.

She tried to smile. "T-that's great! I mean, you're all right with it, right?"

Gaara nodded. "I have to get married sooner or later. I knew I couldn't run away from it any more."

Ino nodded shakily. "I'm… wow… Congratulations." She didn't even know when she had started shivering, because she was looking down at her legs and they were barely keeping her up because they were shaking so badly.

So it really was over. _It was all over_. The man she had fallen hopelessly in love with was getting married, and there wasn't anything she could do. She looked up at him. His face was still as expressionless as before, and his eyes unreadable. "When and where are you getting married?" she asked, somehow feeling stupid for asking because she didn't think she was going to drop by and wish them well on their wedding day.

Gaara nodded to Inoichi. "We were just talking about that, and your father has requested it to be held here in Konoha, in the summer when cosmos dot your fields. He said you'd love that."

Ino nodded shakily. "Yeah. That sounds nice."

Silence.

Ino stared at Gaara and blinked.

Gaara stared back at her stoically.

Ino blinked again. "I'm sorry, what?"

That was when Gaara started to get nervous. "Would you want it to be somewhere else? In the spring?"

Ino shook herself. "Wait. What are you saying?"

Gaara shrugged. "That I'm getting married."

"To whom?" Ino asked wildly.

Gaara's face went grim. "I had thought I'd made that clear in my scroll, if you had just bothered to read it."

Ino;s mouth fell open. "You're getting married to _me?"_

"Don't you want to?" Gaara asked uncertainly. "Because Kankurou and Temari had been so angry at me the day you left for not asking you to marry me. So I had to send you a message that said I'd visit you at the end of May when I've arranged for my assistants and Baki to fill in for my spot while I visit your family and ask your hand in marriage."

Inoichi was now looking down at his fingernails nonchalantly. "And while you were away, I asked him to take you off my hands. Goodbye, daughter. May you have many, many children."

Ino's world was spinning. There were so many questions she wanted to ask! She settled for the one she thought to be the most important. "Your siblings had to force you to ask me to marry you? Are you doing this because you were forced to?" she asked, scared of his answer.

"They didn't force me to ask you to _marry_ me. They forced me to tell you my feelings."

Ino cocked her head to the side. "And what are your feelings?"

"That I love you," he said simply.

Ino's face nearly burst into flames, having him say he loved her in front of her father. She tried to cover it up with more questions. "How _long_ have you loved me?"

Gaara thought for a second, then, "From that night you held me in your arms – "

"Wait!" Ino screamed. She turned to her father. "Can you leave us, please?"

Inoichi looked disappointed. "Do I have to?" he asked.

Ino glared at him evilly.

Inoichi raised his hands in front of him. "Fine, fine. I'm going. If you need me, I'll be in my room." He made to leave, then turned around and said, "No hanky-panky or else."

"_Da~ad!" _Ino whined.

Inoichi burst out laughing as he disappeared up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"Your father is an interesting man," Gaara mused as his eyes followed Inoichi up the stairs. "He talked lovingly of you for thirty minutes straight, then spent the next half hour threatening me that if I don't treat you well, he will hunt me down and kill me, even though I'm the Kazekage."

Ino's face felt hot all over again. "I'm sorry."

"It was the first time anyone's ever threatened me that creatively. It was an eye-opening experience."

Ino smiled as she shyly looked up at him. "Gaara."

He looked down at her, meeting her gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner that you felt that way about me?" Ino asked.

Gaara's eyes clouded over. "Confessing my love wasn't my strongest skill. And at one point I was certain you felt the same for me, so I thought that I didn't need to confirm it with words. I was wrong. I should have told you. I should have asked you what you felt for me. I'm sorry."

Ino could only shake her hear vigorously. "Gaara, I love you, too. And I'm as guilty as you are. I should have told you, instead of just assumed that was what you felt... I shouldn't have left... I was a coward. I'm sorry, too," she said, smiling as she felt a wave of tears threatened to fall again. Damn it all. She had been stressing over nothing for the past month. She would have saved herself the heart ache if she had just read that scroll!

Gaara took a step towards her, and tentatively placed his hands on her waist. "I've already talked to your father before asking you, because I thought you already knew I was coming over. It turns out you _don't _know, so… " He pulled her closer to him.

Ino's arms slipped around his neck slowly. "Yeah?"

"I may not be perfect, and there are times when I could be slow when it comes to things that you would probably think normal, and there could be times when I would have to stay up late at work on occasion. And – "

"Gaara?"

"What?"

Ino smiled. "Marry me?"

Gaara's confused face melted into a smile, the brightest one she had seen on his face yet. "I would love to."

Ino pulled his head down near hers, and her lips met his.

And she decided then and there that make-up kisses were the best kisses in the world.

"You're mine," Gaara whispered into her lips.

"I'm yours," Ino agreed.

* * *

_~Fin~_

* * *

**A/N: And here ends "The Arrangement". Thank you for the people who had bothered to read, review, favorite and put into story alert this little project of mine. And to those who had been so nice as to point out my mistakes in the chapters! It wouldn't have been possible if you all hadn't been there to give me the inspiration to write this. This was my first ever GaaIno story, and I had a lot of fun writing about them. I may write about them again after I give my other story a bit of lovin'. It's time I gave SaiSaku the attention that they need. XD**

**Keep your eyes peeled for an Epilogue, which would be about their wedding day. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it. I was concentrating on pushing myself to finish a multi-chaptered story in a month's time and I'm glad to say that I made it just in time!**

**Again, to my readers, thank you! I'll miss writing for this pairing. **

**Here's to more inspiration to come! Cheers!**

**~Yuugiri~  
**


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: As promised, here's the epilogue! I was supposed to upload this on valentines day, but I had finished surprisingly fast, and thought it unfair to just keep it in my hard drive when some of you are probably waiting for it. Soooo, here it is!**

**But before that! Dun-dun-dun! Warnings and Disclaimers: **

**One, the epilogue revolves around the seven days Gaara had to deal with in preparations for the wedding. It's long. It's _very _long… and it's Gaara-centric. Parts of the chapter have a bit of fluff in them, but mostly they deal with what's going on in Gaara's head as he prepares for his marriage and as he interacts with the people important in Ino's life. Some parts will be a bit messed up, especially when Gaara starts feeling his… _desires _get the best of him. Slightly hot scenes somewhere in the end. No graphic lemon, but there is a suggestion of one. It _is _their wedding night, after all. XD**

**Two, as I am a fan of crack pairings, there are characters coupled up in this chapter that some people may not really think look good together, but all of the pairings in this chapter are the pairings I support and will be used for the sake of the story. If you are not a shipper, please no hating? XD**

**Three, for the sake of avoiding any more inconsistencies, I did not mention Ino's mother much in the chapter. I could have just made an OC out of her, but I wanted to emphasize Ino's relationship with her father and developing a relationship between Inoichi and an OC is just too hard to write about.**

**And, four, The Arrangement's first ten chapters were all from Ino's POV, and so some of you might ask: "What happened to Masami and Iwate?" Note that this chapter is through Gaara's eyes, and some people that matter to Ino may not matter to Gaara as much, and are left out of the detail of the story, though mentioned in passing.**

**If we are all clear with that, then please read on. XD**

* * *

**The Arrangement**

**Epilogue**

* * *

_~SEVEN DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

He could hear it ticking, like a bomb. He opened his eyes in the darkness, softened only by the light streaming through the window from the lamp posts outside the Yamanaka residence. That ticking… he could tell it was coming from somewhere to his left. He turned to look for it. There it was. He could see the green, luminous hands as they moved around and around.

Gaara couldn't take it any more. Ino's lavender bunny rabbit alarm clock had to go. He reached his hand out to grab it around the neck when the woman who had her head resting on his shoulders jerked awake.

Ino peered up at him groggily through the haze of sleep and saw his hand was outstretched towards her alarm clock. "Wha… what are you doing?" she asked.

Gaara hastily lowered his hand back on Ino's shoulder. "Stretching," he lied darkly. The bunny rabbit kept on ticking.

"What time is it?"

He shot the rabbit a strangled look. "Four forty-three."

"That early? We should go back to sleep." Ino snuggled closer against him, resting one of her hands on his chest.

Gaara stiffened like a rock. Going back to sleep was going to be a hard task, because he hadn't been asleep to begin with.

It was a week before their wedding. Gaara and his party had come to Konoha to help with whatever last minute preparations they could do. Gaara had come with a number of people: Temari, Kankurou, Iwate and Matsuri. And of course, as a special guest from Pippu, Masami had joined them. All of them were staying at the special quarters Naruto had prepared in the administrations building. Naruto had prepared the best room for Gaara himself, but this led to that and he ended up staying in the Yamanaka compound for that night.

And he felt like Yamanaka Inoichi had planted eyes all over his only daughter's bedroom walls.

Gaara let out a breath, trying to assess the situation. Maybe he really shouldn't have let Ino convince him to stay for the night.

"_But I've missed you! We've been apart for three months! Stay? Please?" _she had begged. He couldn't say no, because a part of him had missed her probably more so than she did him. So much that embracing her after three months of being apart had been physically painful. He didn't even know he was capable of being this dependent on another human being. He was beginning to think that he needed her just to keep on living.

But he was finally getting married to this woman in a week. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up with her family at the last minute. Yamanaka Inoichi had been nice enough, but he knew he still needed to find out when his jokes were _just jokes_.

"_Do I need to remind you about the 'no-hanky-panky' rule?" _Inoichi had said over his shoulder after Gaara had showered and Ino was leading him up the stairs to her room.

"_Oh, shut up," _Ino had answered back off-handedly, but Gaara couldn't help but swallow hard and say, "Yes, sir," like a good boy.

Kankurou had said something like this happened in some cases of courtship, but his brother had admitted that he hadn't heard about a father lecturing his twenty-nine year old daughter who was getting married in seven days. This was the only ground Gaara had to say that Inoichi _might _have been kidding. Ino didn't look too bothered by it and he had tried to relax, but to no avail. He had lain awake all night, listening to Ino's silent breathing.

He blinked when Ino shifted next to him, the hand that was on his chest inched a bit lower to his stomach and he swallowed hard. He took her hand into his, twining her fingers uneasily with his long ones.

"Ino?"

Silence.

"Ino, are you awake?"

Ino moaned, wriggled then Gaara could feel her breath against his ear. "You can't sleep? Is anything wrong?"

Gaara fumbled for the words. Her lips pressed to his ear were making him nervous, and he rolled to his side to face her in the darkness. He could make out the outline of her cheek and the mound of her shoulders from the streaming light from her curtained windows. "Nothing really."

Ino's nose poked his before he felt something moist and warm against his chin. "Well, something's bothering you."

Gaara closed his eyes and fought back a moan as Ino's lips traveled from his chin, to his mouth, then finally resting on top of his left eye. His arms were automatically around her, pulling her close. Was this what happened to people when they finally admit dependence upon someone? As if proximity had lost meaning, and that being together, even with the knowledge that you were going to be together for the rest of your lives in a matter of days was just not good enough anymore.

He had noticed it the moment he went back to Suna after running after Ino all the way to Konoha last May just to ask her hand in marriage. He had felt completely hollow inside, and a part of him had wished he had just bundled Ino up and taken her back to Suna with him, even when he knew that she was needed in Konoha for the preparations for the wedding he could not help with because of his own duties.

And when August finally came, he had started feeling giddy. Packing his bags for the week to spend in Konoha had taken forever, because he did not know what to pack along with him for a wedding. For _his _wedding. Did he need kunai with him? Did he need his gourd? The first thing he ever did pack from his small selection of wardrobe was the shirt and trousers he had worn the first night Ino had come over for her mission, when she had complimented him about _'cleaning up good'_. But aside from those, he had no idea what else to bring. He would have brought some souvenirs for Ino and her family, but there wasn't anything aesthetically acceptable in the Sand that could possibly compare to the lush greens and pretty flowers of Konoha. Temari had suggested he bring Ino some jewelry.

"_Girls love jewelry," _Temari had commented.

Gaara had frowned at the thought of that, because although Ino was undeniably a woman who loved beautiful things, the only accessories she had on her were her earrings which he had realized matched with her teammates', and the engagement ring he had given her. So if ever he were to give her jewelry, he wouldn't have known what he would get for her.

Surprisingly, Matsuri was the one who had helped him. In reality, before Ino had come to Suna for her mission and after Matsuri had told him she loved him, Gaara hadn't known what to do when he was around the brown-haired girl. He had declined, said sorry, and at that time lied that he was in love with someone else. How it ended that the lie turned out to be the way to true love was beyond him, but Matsuri had been supportive, if not back to her old self. She had suggested on ordering those special blue star sapphires from the desert colony Kita Nikoro. Gaara thought that those were a good idea, blue star sapphires that came close to Ino's blue eyes. That thought had been one of the most romantic thoughts he'd even had in his life, comparing Ino's eyes to beautiful gems. He had wondered if that was what happened to people when they were in love. Ino had loved his present, and he earned a sloppy kiss in return.

Kankurou said that it would get worse from here.

He was not lying. After three months of being away and finally meeting with Ino, he had wanted to take her away to a place where they would be alone forever and kiss her senseless. Formalities with Naruto, the village and Ino's family had been the only things that had kept him from kidnapping his wife-to-be.

Ino's hands swept across his back, up and down. "You're thinking too much again. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He was too fast to respond. How was he supposed to explain to Ino that he was starting to want her so much that it was making even _him _uncomfortable? Was this even normal?

"Oh. Well, all right. If you say so. Do you want to get up, then? Maybe have some hot chocolate? Or coffee downstairs?" Ino offered.

Gaara was once again quick to nod. Maybe being alone with Ino in a dark room in a small bed was a bad idea. "Coffee sounds great. And maybe you can show me the guest list?"

Ino pushed herself up and blindly reached out right next to the bunny rabbit alarm clock, to the bedside lamp. In another second, the room was bathed in a soft light.

Gaara propped himself up on his elbow and watched as Ino pushed her long hair, now free from her usual pony tail, over one shoulder. One _bare_ shoulder. Her night gown's neck was loose, evidence that she's had it for years now. The amount of skin showing on her neck, chest and shoulders was a first for Gaara, and that was the first time, too, did he want to look away but couldn't.

He reached out, his fingers touching the curve of her shoulder. Her skin was softer here than it had been in the Sand. He had noticed it the moment they hugged earlier in the day when he first got there. And she had smelled of strawberries. She smelled like strawberries now, too.

Ino looked up at him innocently. "Yeah?"

Gaara let his thumb rub that dip between her shoulder and neck before letting his hand travel down to the base of her throat, then up to her chin. "I like this," he said under his breath.

Ino blushed instantly, but she did not brush his hand away, as he thought she would. Instead, she leaned to the side, pulling her hair neater over one shoulder, exposing her neck for him to see.

Now how was a man supposed to react to that? Kankurou never taught him this. Actually, Kankurou had stopped teaching him anything ever since Ino had left the Sand for thinking Gaara did not feel the same for her. It was as if his older brother had just stopped being… _informative._ Damn him.

He was all alone here. But as Ino peered up at him through the fringe of her long lashes, it was as if he already knew what to do. He leaned down, gently, tentatively pressing his lips to her shoulder. Her skin was soft, and being this close, her scent was near intoxicating. He kissed his way up her slender neck, and she shivered when he made it to her ear.

Did these urges come natural to a human male, he wondered? Because for some unexplainable reason, he opened his mouth and took her earlobe in between his teeth. And then he sucked.

"Ga… _ahh_… ra… " she moaned as her hands were suddenly on his chest.

And that was when he felt it.

That _feeling_.

It was like a tight knot forming at his lower abdomen, like an itch he couldn't scratch by himself. He'd had this feeling many times before, when he was younger. It was the feeling Shikaku left in him when it needed to feed. When it needed _blood_. And it would only be satisfied – and Gaara relieved – when it had killed enough.

And then he had felt this feeling several nights after he had been brought back to life, fourteen years ago. That feeling when his body responded so… strangely in the morning. Or waking up in the middle of the night feeling hard. And it had _frightened _him. At first, he had thought that to relieve himself of the feeling, he needed blood. It was the first time in his life did he have that sensation without the monster in him, and had been lost and scared and crying. It had been Kankurou who had helped him, patiently, as he would teach a child how to tie his shoes. His big brother had taught him the release he needed, and that in itself had frightened him senseless.

All this time, the feeling had brought him discomfort.

But as he sat there in rumpled sheets, in a darkly lit room, his mouth hot against Ino's skin, his tongue running down her throat to that hollow at the base of her neck, he still felt afraid. He still felt uncomfortable. But there was another thing there.

He felt… _lonely_.

Was that the right word for it?

It was as if there was something missing and it took him all this time to find it, and now it was in front him, in his arms, moaning his name softly, and he did not know how to get rid of the loneliness.

He instantly pulled away, gasping for breath as he looked down at Ino's neck in disbelief. He had marked her. On her pale skin, right under her throat, was a nasty red bruise from suckling too hard. He started to panic. "I'm sorry…! I didn't mean to. Does it hurt? I lost myself – " The redness reminded him of the blood. Was he trying to draw blood from her? Had he hurt her without knowing it?

Ino's finger was on his lips in a second, and she was looking up into his eyes earnestly, almost worriedly. "It doesn't hurt. And I don't mind," she crooned, and she had her arms around his shoulders, pulling him to her. "This. This is natural. Don't apologize for this. We can take it slow. Step by step, In your own time."

Gaara didn't even know when he had wrapped his own arms tightly around her lithe body, burying his face into her long, strawberry-scented hair. She was not angry. She said it was natural. Was this strong feeling bubbling in him not a bad feeling after all? He had feared it all his life, and it reminded him of that monster. And it reminded him of blood and death.

If this feeling, if this yearning, if this _desire _for her was not really about the thirst for blood, and did not represent death, then what was it?

Ino pulled away from him, holding him at arms' length. "Are you all right?"

Gaara's eyes were trained on the angry red spot on her neck. He touched it gently with the tip of his fingers. "It looks like it should hurt…"

Ino grinned ruefully. "Oh, it would, if my dad saw it. I'll just wear a shirt with a high collar tomorrow. Or maybe a scarf? No harm done."

Gaara lowered his gaze down on the bed. He could see _a lot _of Ino's legs peeking from under her night gown. He hurriedly raised his eyes back again. "How can I make it up to you?"

Ino was taken aback at the question, then after a moments thought, she pounced on him giggling, bringing him down onto the bed with a strangled yell. And much to his surprise, her lips were on his throat, sucking so hard it _should _hurt, but instead it felt so very _good_.

She was right. It did not hurt at all.

* * *

_~SIX DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

His morning was spent having a quick chat with Naruto about unimportant matters which led straight to lunch at a restaurant – what was the place called again? Ichiraku? – where Naruto had ordered for him a _tonkotsu_ ramen that gave him indigestion. As much as he loved and respected the man like a brother, he had declined his offer for seconds while Naruto ate his third. Just watching the Hokage stuff his face with noodles was enough to make him sick. He was never eating ramen again.

Now with the promise of heartburn later, he said goodbye to Naruto and went back to the administrations building to look for Kankurou and Temari. Temari had started helping out Shikamaru on the task of assigning the rooms for guests visiting from far away. The office they were using was the one down the rooms Temari, Matsuri and Masami were occupying. Gaara, wanting to make sure that Ebizo-ojii had been reserved a room, went straight to that office. He was about to knock on the door when he heard voices coming from the inside.

It was unmistakably Temari and Shikamaru.

"That's such a bother," said the Nara.

"Is it? _Everything's _a bother to you," Temari pointed out.

"_Women_ in majority are bothersome. You are, too."

"I've heard thatbefore. I hope you're not forgetting that it was a woman who brought you into the world."

"Ah, _I've _heard _that_ before. My mom says the same thing. Come to think of it, you're starting to sound like my mother. You always tell me what to do. We rarely see each other, but when we do, you push me around."

Silence, then, "Is that how you really think of me? _Oh, don't light up!_ You know how I hate it when you smoke."

"See? You're doing it again." There was shuffling in the room. Shikamaru must have started pacing. "That's the main reason why you're still not married. How old are you? Thirty-one?"

"Thirty-two, you ass."

"I rest my case. You're going to die an old maid. Because you're so bossy and you always want it your way. Men hate bossy women."

Temari was silent.

Gaara blinked at the door. Were they fighting? And was Temari _losing? _That can't be possible. Temari never lost a verbal battle.

She started talking again. Gaara could imagine her angry face without having to see her. "You know what? You're right. I'm a thirty-two year old bossy woman who can't get a guy to love her for whom she is. I'm gonna die an old maid, never have children, and maybe have a few dozen cats. _I don't care_. I still don't like you smoking because you smell like shit, and kissing you is like kissing an ashtray!"

_Kissing? _Gaara thought, blinking in amazement.

"So don't kiss me!" Shikamaru said loudly.

"Oh, I see. Is that how you're going to be? _Fine_. You're getting no kisses from this bossy old woman. _Ever!"_

Silence followed. Then there was a loud sound of something big hitting the wall. Temari screamed. Shikamaru snarled. Gaara wondered if he should get in there and stop them before they killed each other.

"I… said… don't… kiss… me!" Temari screamed in between interruptions by something that sounded suspiciously like Shikamaru's ashtray mouth.

More scrambling, and Gaara jumped away from the door when something rammed against it from the other side.

"_Get… away… from me!" _Temari ordered. The door rattled like crazy. Gaara was thinking of walking away before they realize he was there.

"Not until you say yes," Shikamaru hissed. The weight on the door left, and it sounded like they were battling it out on the floor.

"Yes to what, you butt head!"

"Say yes, you'll marry me so that you don't grow old and alone, and we'll have two children – a girl, then a boy – and I'll quit, cold turkey. I swear. If you say yes, I'll quit these damn cigarettes you hate so much right now!"

Gaara knew where this was going.

That was why he completely fell off the loop when Temari said, "All right! Yes! Yes! Now let me go, dammit!"

Gaara stared at the door in disbelief. The two had fallen silent again, and Gaara had a very vivid image of what they were doing in there. He turned on his heel and walked down the hall, away from the office. He ran into Kankurou along the way, carrying a box of lavender objects.

"Where are you going?" Gaara asked him.

"I'm off to see Temari about these ribbons. Ino said I – what the f – !"

Gaara grabbed his older brother's shoulder meanly and whirled him towards the opposite direction. "Walk with me."

"What? Where?"

"Just… walk with me."

Timing had been perfect for them because they ran into Hyuuga Hinata who was in charge with the decorations for the wedding. He left Kankurou in the Hyuuga's hands and went off to search for Ino.

He found her in her flower shop, surrounded by dozens and dozens of yellow tulips. She was cutting off the ends of the stems with skilled hands, comparing each and every one of their lengths.

Seeing her cheerful, smiling and happy in Suna was different from seeing her in her own habitat. It was as if being surrounded with flowers made her _glow_. At that moment, he started to wonder if he would be able to make her happy in a barren desert for the rest of her life. The thought instantly made him insecure. He stood there by the door, watching her flutter from one corner of the flower shop to another, like a very excited butterfly. What made his heart leap were the times when she would pause in mid-stride and look down at the ring on her finger and smile like she was really happy.

Was he really capable of making her happy like that? Did the thought of them getting married _really_ make her happy?

"Hey there," Ino suddenly greeted and Gaara looked up to see her approaching him, a long-stemmed yellow tulip in her hand.

Gaara's eyes instantly fell on her neck. She was wearing a high-collared shirt, as she said she would wear earlier in the day. The mark he had left was not visible, but he still could not take his eyes off that spot as if it were. His hand felt at his own closed collar where Ino had left her mark on him, and he felt instantly giddy.

"Eyes. Here." Ino used the tulip head to raise his chin up and make him look at her. She was smiling at him. "How was your day?"

Gaara thought about the ramen, and how it still made him a bit queasy. Then he thought about Temari and Shikamaru inside that office, grappling on the floor. He shuddered. "It was fine," he lied.

Ino shook her head, looking down at the tulip in her hand and cutting the stem off by half. "You don't look fine, though." She stood on tiptoe and stuck the tulip behind Gaara's ear. "But you look fine in yellow."

Gaara stared down at her, then plucked the flower from his head. "I like yellow."

"I know you do." She poked his cheek playfully with a finger. She must be in a really good mood. "The flower arrangements are going great. Sakura, Tenten and Hinata are coming over later to help me put them in water."

Gaara looked over to the flowers. There were so many of them that he was a bit glad to know that her friends were coming over to help her. He had met those friends of hers yesterday, and they had seemed nice. He could remember Sakura and Tenten from the time when Konoha had sent help to Suna fourteen years ago. They had been to and from Suna on special gatherings and sometimes showed up for Chiyo-obaa's death anniversary along with Tenten's husband, Hyuuga Neji. And then there was Hyuuga Hinata, who he knew personally through Naruto.

"Hey," Ino said suddenly, tugging gently at his earlobe. "The girls and I are planning to have a night out tomorrow. Would you like to come?"

Gaara paused for a moment before saying, "Should I? I'm not good at those kinds of gatherings… "

Ino smiled toothily. "If you come, I'll ask Hinata and Tenten to bring Naruto and Neji. And while we're at it, why don't we just make it a full-blown party and invite Kiba and the rest?"

Gaara suddenly felt grim. The more, the merrier, or so Kankurou had taught him. But he did not think he would be comfortable with that many people, even if he had worked with them many times in the past. He would not know what to talk about, and aside from Naruto and his girlfriend, he would not know anyone on a personal basis. But as he looked down at Ino's expectant face, he could not help but nod. "All right," he said, tucking the tulip he had in his hand behind Ino's ear, as she did earlier with him. "If you want me to go, I'll go."

"Yay!" Ino cheered childishly as she did a little jig.

Gaara couldn't help but give her a small smile of his own. "Come over here." He tried to pull her to him. He had missed her. She had been busy all morning while he was stuck with Naruto and his ramen.

Ino giggled and danced away from his grasp. "I'm working right now. The shop doesn't close until five."

Gaara frowned. Letting his arms fall to his sides, he nodded. "I'm sorry."

Ino stared at him in disbelief from across the shop. "Wow… you give up fast."

Gaara felt his frown deepen. What was she trying to say? She ran away from him, saying that she was working. And when he let her go, she'd say he gave up fast. Was this some sort of mind game that women liked to play? He remembered Temari and Shikamaru earlier. Their conversation had started with smoking, and then growing old alone, then no kissing. And then they ended up kissing. "What was I supposed to do just now?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Ino shrugged, and she took another long-stemmed tulip and twirled it around her fingers. "I dunno… Maybe chase me around the shop. Steal a few kisses."

Gaara's eyes widened. He looked around the shop, from the open glass windows where he could see the people walking outside, to the door that led into Ino's house where anyone could just walk in. "I don't think we can steal kisses here. Anyone can see us do it."

Ino grinned coyly. Gaara felt his insides swirl. While he had fallen in love with Ino while she had been reserved and professional because of her mission, he was beginning to see the playful, almost naughty side of her that he didn't know if he should be happy or worried about.

"That's the fun part about it, like some game. The rules are: _Steal as many kisses as you can without getting caught_." Ino beckoned at him with a curled finger. "Get over here…"

Gaara felt something stir in the pit of his stomach. Something not so different from that time when they were still in bed. He stalked towards her slowly, grabbed her waist roughly and pulled her flush against him. She giggled as she dropped the tulip she had in her hand, and the one tucked behind her ear.

Gaara watched as her eyelids drooped lazily, and she was giving him that look again she gave him in her bedroom. He was starting to get used to that look. He was starting to _like _it. He nuzzled the side of her face.

"Oh, god. Do we have to see this?" a voice suddenly said from behind him.

Gaara looked up frantically, a bit irked to have someone sneak up on him from behind.

Tenten and Sakura were standing by the door of the flower shop, a very, very red Hyuuga Hinata was looking down at the floor uncomfortably behind them.

"You're early." Ino narrowed her eyes at her friends as she draped her arms around Gaara's neck. Gaara didn't know what to do. The Kazekage didn't usually hang around in flower shops and made out with his fiancée.

"Greetings," Sakura said, giving them both a wave. "I asked Shizune to let me off early so we can start with the flowers. But I see you're a bit preoccupied. Shall we come back later?"

Gaara looked down at Ino who was still dangling from his shoulders. "Your friends have opened their schedule for you. Maybe you should get back to work." The stirring in his insides died down, along with the excited look on Ino's face. She disentangled her arms from around his neck and she straightened her skirt demurely.

Tenten smiled at Gaara. The weapons mistress had changed a lot over the years. And while Neji had stayed as stoic as he was back when they were young, Tenten had become even more talkative and chipper than ever. "She's so in love. I haven't seen her like that in a while now."

"Shut up," Ino said, face suddenly coloring, and as if embarrassed, she backed away a step from Gaara.

"Look, she's blushing," Sakura pointed out, and Gaara couldn't tell if she was doing it to annoy Ino more.

Kankurou had warned him once about girls and their ritualistic bonding moments.

"_You stay out of it. Period."_

Gaara nodded to himself. He decided that his older brother was right. He leaned down and gave Ino a kiss on the cheek. "I'll leave you to your work. I'll see you tonight." And he left swiftly after tilting his head towards Ino's friends in acknowledgment.

Kankurou would have been proud of him.

* * *

_~FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

"Maybe you should let Temari hang on to those," Gaara said uncertainly as he watched Kankurou throw the velvet box in the air and caught it carelessly with a steady hand.

"No way, little bro. I'm holding your rings for you until the wedding. Coz I'm, like, your _best man_," Kankurou said, as if Gaara needed any reminding.

"Then stop throwing it around in the air," Gaara ordered, involuntarily standing up from his chair and trying to snatch the box away from the man.

Kankurou was quick, and the box was instantly in his pocket. "Okay, okay. Fine, I won't play with it."

"If you lose those rings, I swear I will kill you," Gaara threatened, sitting back down. And Kankurou laughed. Back when they were young, Kankurou wouldn't even look his way. And now the man just laughed at his death threats.

"Yeah, sure. Okay. And why are you dressed?"

Gaara looked down at his dark trousers and maroon coat. "It looks weird, doesn't it?"

"You always wear maroon. What's so weird about it?"

Gaara frowned. He was acting like an idiot. "Nothing."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm meeting with Ino's friends," he said grudgingly.

Kankurou raised his eyebrows as he sat on the bed adjacent to Gaara's chair. "Tonight?" He leaned back on the bed, looking up into the ceiling, hoping to look nonchalant. "So… is Sakura gonna be there?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes at his brother. It was not new for Kankurou to ask about Haruno Sakura for the past fourteen years. He had assumed it was because of that time when Sakura had saved his life from a poison not even Elder Chiyo could cure. Gaara hadn't really paid much attention to his brother's obvious interest in the Medic nin, but now that he had a bit more experience on the feeling, he suspected Kankurou… _liked _her.

It was strange, though. While Gaara knew that because he liked – _loved _– Ino, he had this constant desire to be with her almost every minute of every day possible. Kankurou, on the other hand, had been avoiding Sakura like she had leprosy. Come to think of it, ever since they came to Konoha, the only thing Kankurou had said to Sakura was, "Hi."

In the past fourteen years, there had been times when Kankurou had asked about the pink-haired kunoichi when Shikamaru came over for political visits. Shikamaru had answered him truthfully, that he didn't know, and that he and Sakura were busy with their own affairs in different divisions. Temari, having realized Kankurou's feelings, had been kind enough to fill him in on the details every time it was her turn to visit Konoha. And all those times, Kankurou had pretended like he didn't care. But Gaara and Temari knew differently.

"She's coming," Gaara said, then, out of politeness, asked, "Do you want to come along?"

Kankurou catapulted forward. "Me? _come?_ To a chick's little get-together? _No way!"_

Gaara stared at him dryly. "Don't call them _chicks_. These are Ino's friends. And Naruto and Neji are coming. And I think Shikamaru and Temari are, too." Ino had mentioned something about inviting Temari and Shikamaru over. It seemed like they had something to announce that night.

"_I wonder what it could be," _Ino had mused. Gaara didn't ruin the surprise for her. He was sure it was about the result of their very unorthodox mating ritual in the office yesterday.

"I'll pass, Gaara," Kankurou said quietly, casting him one of those rare smiles that did not look like smirks. "You go and have fun, though."

"Are you sure? Everyone will be there. Not just Sakura."

"Exactly. I don't think I would enjoy it, anyway."

Gaara paused, then asked, "Have I been wrong all this time? I was convinced that you fancied her."

Kankurou blinked at Gaara, as if in surprise. "You were _convinced?_ Since when?"

Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. It wasn't until lately that I've realized you keep on… _asking_… about her."

Kankurou, who was probably not used to being on the hot seat, brushed off his comment with a snort. "Psh! No I do _not! _ I don't ask about her all the time! I mean, I ask about Tenten sometimes, right? And Kiba? We're all good."

"That's true. But I've never seen you _blush_ when you ask about Tenten. Or Kiba. Well, it would be weird if you blushed for Kiba… "

"I don't _blush_ for Sakura!" he said, right now obviously blushing.

Gaara sighed. He didn't even know why he was having this conversation with him. "All right. So you're not coming along?"

Kankurou shut up, then he looked down at himself. "I'm not dressed. What do I wear?"

Gaara backtracked on the conversation, surprised. "What? So you're coming?"

"I don't have anything to wear."

Not that that was the crisis of the year, but… "Uh… well, why don't you try that… uh… that… black tunic you have?" _The one that you always wear._

Kankurou brightened evidently. "Hey! Good idea! Lemme just put that on and then we can go." He stood up and started rummaging through rucksack he had brought with him.

"So you're joining us?" Gaara asked blandly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, everyone's gonna be there, right? Kiba would be there, right? And whatisname?"

"Sakura."

Kankurou pretended he did not hear him. "And Shino. Yeah, I keep on forgetting his name."

"The rings are in your pocket. Don't forget to put them in a safe place."

"Oh, right." Kankurou dug into his pocket for the velvet box, and tossed it carelessly on the bed.

Gaara started seeing red. He fought down the urge to strangle his brother and decided to just forgive him for being an idiot. Somehow it was easier to forgive people who were in love but kept on denying it. He knew how that felt, after all.

Well, he had other things to worry about tonight. Kankurou had once said that nights spent with friends of the girl you fancied was one of the hardest things yet in a relationship, because for some reason, you always have to get the approval of the girlfriends.

He knew that pleasing the girlfriends was easy enough since he was already fairly acquainted with them, but pleasing the _drunken_ girlfriends was a different story.

Sakura and Tenten were noisy drunks. Gaara did not understand how Kankurou could still sigh and look at Sakura admiringly from across the table of that izakaya when she was on her fifth bottle of _sake _and laughing loudly with Kiba, Naruto and Tenten on a joke she was telling.

"And then he said… and then he said: _'Does that mean I should try harder?_ And then I said, 'No, it means I don't like you.' And that was when he finally got it!" Sakura said in between uncontrollable laughter. Those who were drunk enough to understand the punch line burst out laughing loudly

Gaara leaned down on Ino who was laughing politely as she sipped her Oolong tea. "I don't get the joke," he confessed in a whisper.

Ino pressed her lips against his ear. "Don't worry. Neither do I but everyone's having a good time so that's a good thing."

Gaara nodded and straightened up again. Ino was not kidding when she said it would turn out to be a full-blown party. Everyone was there.

_Everyone_.

Akimichi Chouji, who Ino had said had married at the age of twenty-three, was in a polite conversation with Aburame Shino. It turns out the Aburame had also married within their clan almost the same year as Chouji did, and both were staying away from getting intoxicated in fear of getting scolded by the wife waiting at home. Both of them had changed a lot over the years. Not that Gaara had been that close to the two of them, but any friend of Naruto's had somehow automatically become Gaara's friend. Both the Aburame and the Akimichi had sincerely congratulated him on his wedding.

"Welcome to the group, Gaara-san," Chouji had said to him earlier in the night when they had first sat down around the table. "The party's just beginning. Wait till you have kids. The young 'uns will drive you mad." And he had laughed as if being driven mad was a good thing.

Shino had agreed with the Akimichi. "My second son had turned two this year."

"Congratulations," Gaara had said to him.

Shino had nodded, then said gravely, "He nearly set our house on fire for the third time this month. My wife was so proud of him."

Gaara did not get the logic behind that, so had said, "Good for him," with the hopes of not offending anyone. He was glad the conversation ended there.

"I'm really sorry about this. They get a bit out of control under the influence of alcohol," Hinata, who was sitting to Ino's left, said sheepishly. The Hyuuga had left Naruto's side to make room for the heavy drinkers of the group and joined the other group which was staying away from getting wasted on their side of the table.

Gaara shook his head. "I don't mind."

Ino laughed loudly, then turned to Hinata. "He minds it, believe me. But he's just too polite to say so."

Hinata smiled. "They're harmless, really. This happens to Sakura when she's stressing about work in the hospital. Since Tsunade-sama retired, she's been pushed, shoved and kicked hard to get better in her studies."

Kankurou, who was seated right next to Gaara, bent over and asked, "What's Sakura drinking?"

Hinata blinked in surprise. "Ah, the usual rice wine. When she's really stressed, she gets a few shots of the local brandy."

Kankurou nodded vaguely, then fell silent. After a while, he waved a waitress over and ordered – _discreetly _– more of what Sakura was drinking. Gaara noticed. Right next to Kankurou, Temari and Shikamaru exchanged glances and gave Gaara a knowing look. Gaara pretended not to see.

"Where's my husband?" Tenten suddenly asked, looking around the table, already getting a bit tipsy. "He's late! I can't believe this. Lee's away on a mission, and Neji's MIA. Why am I the only one here from Team Gai?"

Kiba, tonight strangely missing a nin dog and looking as scruffy as ever, looked over to Sakura and said, "And where the heck is Sai? You invited him over, right?"

Naruto looked over to his teammate, too. "You _did _pass the message to him, right?" he asked.

Tenten raised her eyebrows at Sakura as she downed her drink. Hinata shook her head ruefully.

Sakura nodded. "Of course I did. What do you take me for?"

Kiba rolled his eyes.

Chouji leaned over to pluck a French fry from one of the plates of finger foods in front of them. "Well, since you intentionally forgot to tell Sai that we were celebrating Tenten's birthday last year – "

"And my birthday," Naruto added.

"And not to mention the Christmas party last year," Ino added, eyes twinkling.

Sakura's already flushed face turned into an ever more violent shade of magenta. "I didn't do any of those. Not intentionally!"

Gaara leaned back down on Ino, honestly lost. "What's going on?"

Ino grinned knowingly and whispered in Gaara's ear, "It's Sai. He likes Sakura. And we all think Sakura likes him, too."

Gaara blinked and, wordlessly straightening in his seat, did not know if Kankurou had heard what Ino had just said.

"The~he~_here_ you are!" Tenten suddenly wailed loudly when the waitresses around them said, "Welcome!" the moment the door of the izakaya slid open and admitted Hyuuga Neji who was practically still the same serious man back in their genin days, together with the man who still strangely made Gaara think of Uchiha Sasuke.

_Sai_. He had met the man many times in the past as well. He had become somewhat Naruto's right-hand man, being the leader of this independent branch Naruto had referred to as Root. As blank as ever, the man looked over to everyone at the table and waved, and everyone called an enthusiastic, "Yo!" or "Hey, Neji, Sai! You're late!" to the two.

"Neji! _Dah-ling!"_ Tenten cried when Neji and Sai approached their table, and she jumped on her chair, draping her arms around the Hyuuga.

"You're making a scene," Neji said quietly, but he kissed the energetic weapon's mistress on her cheek anyway as she made room for him to sit beside her.

Sakura looked up when Sai came up from behind her, bent down and whispered something in the pink-haired kunoichi's ear. She smirked in return, moved a bit to her left to make room, and the Root agent sat beside her. They ignored each other all night, having their own conversations with different people around the table, but Gaara could see how their shoulders brushed, and sometimes one would look at the other when they thought they weren't looking.

Sai had congratulated Gaara for the wedding, and Gaara had accepted politely, but he was confused about what to feel about the man, knowing that Kankurou had taken a sudden interest on the finger foods in front of him.

Temari must have sensed the bad vibes emitting from their brother that she cleared her throat and said, "Everybody, listen up. We have something to tell you."

Gaara looked down at the drink in his hand and swirled the ice with a finger. Ino leaned forward when everyone fell silent and looked over to Temari. He did not know what he was feeling right now. He did not know what had just happened with Kankurou, but Gaara felt like he had witnessed some sort of premature defeat. He didn't even know why Temari would choose a time to tell the group that she was getting married to Shikamaru. Gaara had never really empathized much with another human being when it came to affairs of the heart… but he _felt _for Kankurou.

Temari jerked her thumb towards Shikamaru. "He quit smoking yesterday," she said flatly.

Gaara looked up at his sister, and Temari caught his eye. There was a pained look on her face, and Gaara leaned back on his seat, feeling a bit relieved.

Everyone started bombarding Shikamaru with questions, Kiba even dishing out a few ryo to bet on how long the Nara was going to be able to stay clean. Everyone started taking bets.

Kankurou threw a few bills on the pile of money forming in the middle of their table, and laughed as if Sakura had not touched Sai's arm as she leaned forward to throw in a few coins in the pile happily. And Kankurou laughed more as if that hand didn't stayed there for the rest of the night.

Gaara closed his eyes. Love gained. Love lost. He squeezed Ino's hand softly.

_Love earned._

Ino squeezed back.

_Thank god._

* * *

_~FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

Among the busy schedule of preparations, one of the best moments of that day was when Rock Lee came back to the Leaf after leading a mission outside the country. After having done so much to the man years ago during their first chuunin exams and was still forgiven for it had been one of the many firsts for Gaara. He had found a friend in the taijutsu master over the years, once in a while having him visit for friendly spars and sometimes a few non-alcoholic beverages in the village izakaya.

The man was as eccentric as ever, and for some unexplainable reason he was still stuck in that same green body suit as if it were his second skin. That, and his smile. Gaara had always thought the man smiled too much.

"Congratulations, Gaara-san! This summer is indeed marked with a wonderful milestone between the Leaf and the Sand. Summer has always been a poetic season of youthful love to blossom into something much more. _Marriage!"_

Gaara did not even have to correct him that they were no longer 'young'. To Lee, everyone was young at heart. "Thank you. I was a bit worried you wouldn't make it to the wedding."

"Nonsense! I wouldn't miss it for the world," Lee said sincerely.

The two of them were walking towards the venue of the wedding, which was located opposite the Hokage Mountain at the other side of the village, right across the river. Ino had been going on and on about how pretty the fields of Konoha were during summer, and that a man named Yamato who belonged in the ANBU division of Konoha had been more than happy to lend his skills for erecting a spacious and equally lovely wooden gazebo for the ceremony. Gaara had yet to see the place. Ino had gone ahead of him with Hinata earlier that morning along with a few chuunin to decorate the place with a few potted plants.

"So, how have things been with you?" Lee asked as they slowly walked down the dirt path that lined the river.

Gaara looked out into the river, rolling Lee's question in his head. How did one explain in a few sentences that his life had never been this great before without sounding… _strange?_ Ever since Yamanaka Ino had waltzed into his life to fill in the role of his fiancée, things have changed so much so fast that he hadn't really given himself the chance to sum everything into words.

"Things have been… very well, Lee. Thank you." Gaara turned to face the man. "And you?"

Lee grinned, stopped and bent down to pick up a pebble and threw it into the river. It skipped a few times before disappearing into the water. "Ah, everything is the usual. The students have all grown up. A new batch is coming next year by April. I requested Naruto for a position in the Academy. As a teacher."

Gaara's eyes stayed on the place where Lee's pebble disappeared. "What did he say?"

Lee let out a small laugh. "He said, 'All right. Just don't make your students wear that body suit.' So I promised him I would not."

Gaara nodded, thinking it wise of Naruto to have said that before everything got out of control. Of course, while Gaara agreed with Naruto about his body suit, he did not doubt Lee was going to be a great teacher. "You're perfect for the job."

"Do you think so? I was the one who requested for the job, and so I do not want to disappoint anyone. Especially the children."

Gaara started walking towards the narrow bridge to the other side of the river, Lee following behind him while bouncing a flat rock on his knee like a toy. The man was such a busybody. He always liked to move. Gaara usually hated people who couldn't sit still, but look at him now, a boisterous Hokage for a best friend, many countless others who were like Lee who loved to talk and move and play nonsensical games.

And the naughtiest woman in Konoha for a fiancée.

"The children will love you," Gaara said to him, and meaning it. "Your sensei taught you well, after all."

That seemed to have cheered the taijutsu master a lot, and he abandoned the stone he was playing with and launched into a very descriptive narrative about his Gai sensei and what he was doing lately in the academy. Gaara listened patiently, nodding once in a while, and sometimes asking a question or two as they made their way through the path leading down the fields south of the Leaf. From a distance they could already make out the sounds of people talking as they worked, and after a few more strides, the trees opened up into a broad expanse of grass dotted with little flowers in every shade of pink that Gaara knew to be cosmos.

Gaara was left breathless at the sight. Ino had said it was beautiful, but maybe he really did not think much about how beautiful she meant it was. There was a soft breeze blowing through the field, making the flowers look like they were dancing on the grass. A few stray trees were found here and there, but aside from those, it was just one big sea of green.

"Incredible, is it not?" Lee asked as he propped his fists on his waist and puffed up his chest proudly. "Konoha is at its prettiest in the Summer!"

"Wonderful," Gaara said softly. It was so wonderful, in fact, that he suddenly felt so very insecure.

_Ino has this here. She can have all the beautiful flowers her heart desires. Is she really willing to trade all of this for a sand lot?_

"Are you all right?" Lee asked.

Gaara lowered his eyes to a stray flower by his feet. "I can't offer her anything that would be more beautiful than this. I hope… I hope she doesn't regret this in the future."

Lee slapped his back with so much force that Gaara nearly fell over. So this was the disadvantage of not bringing ready-to-use sand wherever he went. "What are you talking about? Of course she would not regret this!"

Gaara regained his footing and looked over at Lee, wondering where his confidence was coming from. "How can you tell?"

Lee smiled at him, gave him his trademark thumbs up sign then said, "She has you."

And Gaara felt his heart do a little flip-flop.

* * *

_~THREE DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

When the Kage of Suna got married, he was required to wear the usual Kazekage robes and his Kage hat and that would be it. Gaara actually liked the thought of wearing that attire, because they were comfortable and easy to move in.

Unfortunately, he was getting married in _Konoha_, where the groom was required to wear the formal montsuki, haori and hakama. Now he did not really have anything against the attire. But there were two problems he was facing, and with the wedding three days away, he knew he was in trouble.

One, he did not know how to _wear _a montsuki. And two, he did not know anyone who _knew _how to wear a montsuki.

Gaara was in his room in the administrations building, wearing nothing but the white undergarments for the kimono. He stared down at the articles of clothing lain down neatly on his bed in the administrations building, and he felt his cheek twitch involuntarily. Tenten, who was in charge of today's dress rehearsals, said someone was coming over to help him get dressed. He was not very keen on the idea of some random person stuffing him in unfamiliar clothing.

"Knock, knock. Here to groom the groom," came a voice behind him, and the door opened to admit none other than Yamanaka Inoichi. He had the usual smile on his face, those blue eyes, so much like Ino's, roaming the room, looking very impressed. "Nice room. I didn't know they had these kinds of arrangements in this building. The kicks of being so important, huh?"

"Good afternoon, sir," Gaara greeted once the man finished admiring his quarters.

"Oh, come on. We're practically _family_. Call me _dad._"

There was no way in this world would he call him that_._ "I couldn't possibly impose," Gaara said calmly, though he could feel the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end.

Inoichi stared at him for approximately three seconds before he shrugged and said, "Yeah, you're right. The Kazekage calling me 'dad' is kind of creepy. Call me Inoichi. Yeah, that sounds about right."

Gaara bristled, but had to agree. "Very well, Inoichi-san."

Inoichi sighed as he crossed the room and stared down at the montsuki. "Well, we might as well get started. Ino says you've never worn any of these before?"

"That's correct, sir. I mean… "

Inoichi stared at him in frustration, and for a moment, Gaara saw the way he scratched the back of his neck, just like how Ino would when she was a little frustrated. "You're as stiff as a board. Whatever did my daughter see in you?"

Gaara was taken aback by the question. He did not know how one question could send his confidence shrinking as small as a grain of rice, but it did.

What _did _Ino see in him?

There was nothing to see to begin with. Gaara looked away.

Inoichi laughed out loud, as if suddenly sensing his discomfort. "Ah, well love is blind, or so they say."

Gaara went grim. That felt like an insult. Was it? "Love is blind?"

Inoichi shrugged before picking up the montsuki with both hands. "Something the young ones say these days." He looked over at Gaara and added, "You know, seeing with the heart, not with the eyes. Not that I'm saying you're bad-looking or anything. Coz I'd heard one of them young ladies crowding around our house when you came to ask my Ino's hand in marriage, that she didn't know the Kazekage was _this_ hot… Or something like that. And then she started shrieking with her little girlfriends about it. Ah-ha-ha! Well, I can see what they mean. You're pretty tall. Nice shoulders and all that." Inoichi turned to him and raised the montsuki flush against the front of Gaara's body from his shoulders. "I guess that's why Ino asked to borrow _this_ from me."

Gaara's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean… ?"

"That's right. I wore these on my wedding day. I wasn't so bad-looking myself when I was young. 'Course I married in my early twenties. Had Ino when I was twenty-three. Her ma was so beautiful I had to keep myself from staring at her just to get on with the wedding. The honeymoon wasn't any better. I couldn't look at her without blushing."

Gaara looked down at the garment as Inoichi started to pick up the obi from the bed. "I didn't know these were yours. Thank you for letting me borrow them."

Inoichi brushed him away. "No need to thank me. Talked to your siblings and learned that you don't use the formal wedding kimonos in the Sand. I can understand, with the weather and all. The montsuki is the same as wearing a normal kimono, but you have to put the haori and hakama over it. It's pretty simple, really. I'll help you on the wedding day, so you don't have to worry." The man busied himself with the meticulous dressing of the kimono while he talked.

"You know, if someone told me my little girl was getting married to the Kazekage, I'd have told him he was crazy. I had imagined her getting married to a local ninja. Maybe someone from my Intelligence division. Or maybe someone from the clan." Inoichi laughed as he firmly secured the obi around Gaara's hips. "Turn around a bit, my boy."

Gaara swallowed hard at the _'my boy' _reference, but did as he was told.

"Ino, she's always been a firecracker. She loved studying. Got the best grades in her female batch back in the academy. She's a girl and so I wasn't really that good at understanding her feelings when she was growing up. Her mother's a civilian, you see, and advice about growing up as a kunoichi which you'd usually be able to ask from your ma was one of the benefits she's never had. Grew up surrounded by boys all her life, and at one point in time, I would guess the only thing that had stopped her from turning into a complete tomboy was her rivalry with Haruno Sakura. God bless that girl." Inoichi laughed as he adjusted the kimono a bit here, pulled at the sleeves there. "Turn back around."

Gaara turned slowly to face the man. Now that he thought of it, the man was almost as tall as he was. He could literally see eye-to-eye with him. Inoichi was looking at him. It was as if he was reading him. Gaara had always been uncomfortable with eye contact, but he could not look away from this man as he talked so lovingly of his daughter.

"She's spoiled majority of the time, and she can be stubborn when it comes to admitting her faults. She has a weird maternal instinct, so there are times when you'd feel like she's over-protecting you. Don't hold it against her. She's just used to taking care of the men around her, not because she doesn't trust you, but because she cares about you a lot. So if she's trying to strong-arm you into eating something you don't like, or trying to force you into something you don't want to do, consider yourself loved."

Gaara silently nodded, remembering the time during Ino's mission. She had forced him to do things that were definitely not within his comfort zone. Tomatoes. Shopping. Sleeping. He was loved. She had loved him then.

_She loved him now. _

And he loved her.

He smiled.

Inoichi frowned. "You're creeping me out, son. Are you thinking lewd thoughts about my daughter right now?"

The smile vanished from Gaara's face. "No, sir," he said quickly.

"Good. You may be the strongest man in Suna, but three days from now, you'll also be my _son-in-law_, so I won't think twice in kicking your ass here and now for thinking dirty thoughts about my little girl. Save that _after _the wedding, coz that's when I'll demand from you at least four grandchildren. At least _four_, you hear?" Inoichi smiled as he crouched down with the haori. "Step into this."

Gaara did as he was told, trying to fight the dizziness that had suddenly overcome him. Grandchildren. Four of them. At least four… _Four_… He had always loved children, and after finding out he loved Ino, he had played with the thought of having a few of his own. But to have his betrothed's father actually put pressure on him was a different matter altogether.

Inoichi straightened up and fixed the waistband of the haori neatly around Gaara's obi. "And I'll demand you bring them to visit their grandparents at least once a month. Suna's a long ways away, but I'd love to see my grandchildren once in a while. For Christmas, and New Year's, too. If that's not asking too much."

Gaara felt something in his chest, like a sharp stabbing pain in his heart. He did not understand this feeling. Was this how a father really cared for his child? He was required to father children… four of them…

He nodded. "We wouldn't have it any other way… Father."

Inoichi draped the Hakama over Gaara's shoulders, and he paused, surprised. He smiled that kind smile of his, and Gaara realized that not only did Ino get her eyes from her father, but she had inherited his smile as well.

"It looks good on you, son. Make my little tulip happy." He gripped Gaara's shoulder meanly, smiling a grotesque smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. _"Or else."_

Gaara stiffened in his place. "Yes, sir."

* * *

_~TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING~_

The wedding was tomorrow. Today had been rehearsals day (it had been simple enough for Gaara. He hoped that tomorrow's ceremony would be as uneventful as today), everything was prepared for tomorrow's celebration, and Ino was spending her last day of being single out with the girls. So that night, while the girls had gone to some place secret that they would not let the guys know, Naruto and the other guys also threw him something they called a _'bachelor's party'_ in one of the _Wa _cloisters of the Hokage Tower. Of course, when Kiba had suggested they bring in dancing women in attires that left little to the imagination, Gaara had threatened to leave, and so the party remained as wholesome as it could go.

Aside from Lee, everyone had decided to have a few rounds of sake, and after the formalities, the group had split up into their own tiny groups depending on how their conversations went. Chouji, Shino and Kiba had huddled around the remaining finger foods and munched away while they talked about their children (Kiba talking about the new litter that his sister's nin dog gave birth to) while Neji, Shikamaru and Lee were in another group, discussing the new recruits for the academy next year. Much to Gaara's surprise, Kankurou had approached Sai with a bottle of sake and the two of them started talking animatedly about something that he could not hear.

Gaara had been more content on sitting back and watching everyone interact with each other when Naruto dropped down beside him, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"Tomorrow's the big day. You nervous?" Naruto asked. The man had been one of the many who had changed dramatically over the years. Like Gaara, he too had grown incredibly, a bit sturdily built than Gaara himself. His unmanageable hair had grown, the fringe framing his face long enough to flirt with his chin. The blue of his eyes were as bright as ever, always full of mischief, as if he was always up to no good.

Gaara shook his head. "No," he said honestly. "Kankurou had warned me about cold feet and giddiness. But I don't feel any of those. I can't wait for tomorrow."

Naruto grinned boyishly, as he always did when Gaara told him something. "I can tell. You seem happy. _Relaxed_. You've come a long way, Gaara."

Gaara nodded softly. _"We've_ come a long way. I can never thank you enough, Naruto."

Naruto laughed, and then took a swig of his drink. "What? I didn't do anything," he said modestly. He was always pretty modest. It was as if the man was embarrassed when Gaara started talking like this.

"If hadn't met you when I did, I wonder what I would be now? Dead, maybe. Killed. Murdered. But definitely not what I am _now_. I owe you more than you let me admit," Gaara said, lazily bringing his glass to his own mouth. He watched the people talking obliviously in front of them. All these people came along with the friendship he'd developed with Naruto. He had asked help from Naruto to run away from the marriage the council of Suna had been forcing him into, and fate brought him Yamanaka Ino. It was like Naruto was always a catalyst in great changes in his life.

"You did everything by yourself. I just gave you a good, hard shove. And maybe a head-butt. But everything after that was all _you_. Be proud." Naruto looked over to him. "Ino's been a friend for as long as I could remember. Everyone we had at the party two days ago in the izakaya were people Ino and I had grown up with. I'm glad you're opening yourself up more to the world she's used to."

Gaara leaned forward and rested his elbows to his knees, looking down at the tatami floor. "When we marry, she will leave all this behind. Her friends, her family. Her flowers. Sometimes I doubt myself if I would be able to give her enough to keep her happy in Suna. There's nothing there."

"There's _you_," Naruto pointed out. "And that should be more than enough."

"Lee had said the same thing. It makes me feel even more pressured."

Naruto had to laugh at that. "Gaara, listen to me. I don't mean to make it sound like any of that political crap, but try to look at it this way: Your union with one of the daughters of our most treasured clans will serve as another bridge between our villages. We may be separated by a border, but Ino isn't _losing _her home here. Her family, her friends. She's not _leaving_ them. She's just making new ones in a place that is no different from Konoha. Only with tons and tons of sand." Naruto nudged him with an elbow. "She believes in you so much, I don't even know why you're doubting yourself."

Gaara looked over at him. "Do you really think so?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Are you really asking me that? Seriously? Because I don't think I can put into words how I wanna puke from the way she looks at you and the way she talks about you."

"Hmm." Gaara lowered his glass on the tatami floor.

"Anyway, I can tell you're putting too much thought into this. Don't worry. Everything will change after the wedding day."

Gaara stared at Naruto curiously. "Why? What happens after the wedding day?"

Naruto grinned at him, patted his shoulder roughly, then said, "The wedding night. What else?"

Gaara groaned inwardly. Another thing he didn't want to think about.

"Oh-ho-ho… I see. I see what you're worried about," Naruto suddenly said. "It's not the wedding day. It's the wedding _night_ you're worried about, huh?"

The conversation just turned very uncomfortable for Gaara. He shifted in his place. Actually, it was taking everything he had just to get by through the week for the wedding that he hadn't really thought about what was going to happen _after _it. Except maybe children…

_Of course, you have to have sex to have children. _

He grabbed his glass, downed his drink in one gulp and fumbled for the bottle of whiskey sitting to his left.

_He was going to have sex with _her.

He had felt it many times, the desire to have her in his arms, kissing her, feeling her soft skin against his. And he had heard her moan his name, and it came with flashes of blood, and malicious wanting, and a strange ringing in his ears.

"Gaara, you all right?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded, pouring himself some more alcohol with a shaky hand. "Yes."

Naruto smiled at him in understanding, and Gaara wondered if Naruto's tailed beast did not make him suffer as much as Shukaku had. "The Leaf is looking forward to your children. I don't care if it'd be a boy or a girl. So long as it would symbolize your love for each other, _this_ Hokage will spoil that kid rotten that you'll hate me for it. That means I get first dibs as godfather. Don't forget, all right?"

At the back of Gaara's mind, through the ringing in his ears, and the red film that came along with the sensation of desire, an image of Ino brushing her hair over one shoulder to offer her neck to him flashed so vividly Gaara lurched forward in panic. He covered it up by reaching for a random food on one of the plates in front of him, hoping Naruto did not notice.

He looked down at his hand and found out it was a cherry tomato that he had plucked between his fingers.

"_I like cherry tomatoes, just so you know."_

"_We can always compromise."_

"_I don't care if it'd be a boy or a girl. So long as it would symbolize your love for each other…"_

_A symbol of love… _

_Earn love._

_Make love. _

Gaara popped the tomato in his mouth and drowned out the taste with whiskey.

And that was when the 'cold feet' Kankurou had been talking about came kicking in.

* * *

_~THE DAY OF THE WEDDING~_

Konoha woke early that August morning. The gates were busy with the inflow of people, most of them wearing the Suna hitai-ate on their foreheads or arms. The town proper was bustling with activity, hauling tons and tons of food for the banquet and last minute flowers from the Yamanaka Flower Shop. The whole morning was spent with many, many formalities between the council of both villages, where Ebizo-sama and Tsunade, the retired Fifth Hokage, were seen talking about even better relations between the Sand and the Leaf in the years to come.

The morning progressed well with the preparations, and while Gaara had seen all of his friends running around the village like busy ants, Ino was nowhere to be found. Hinata had explained to him that it was a tradition in the Leaf that the bride and the groom weren't supposed to see each other before the ceremony, and so Gaara had been prodded and poked by all council members of Suna who had brought their personal photographers when they saw him in his wedding kimono, and Ino was not there to save him.

Kankurou had laughed all throughout the picture-taking, all the while making remarks that sounded like compliments but really weren't. Because Gaara was just too tired from getting everything done before the wedding, he had decided to postpone his plans of killing his brother for later.

The ceremony was at three in the afternoon, and it seemed that everything was going according to plan, thanks to Sakura, Tenten and Hinata, who had been self-proclaimed wedding planners, making sure everything went smoothly until everyone was seated in their respective tables in and the around the gazebo, now decorated by thousands of Ino's favorite flowers.

Inoichi had been good at choosing the season for the wedding. The fields were as beautiful as that day Gaara had first seen it, a soft, gentle breeze making the tulips sway and dance as if they, too, were happy that someone was getting married that day.

Gaara stood at the wooden altar Yamato had provided earlier, and standing in front of it was none other than Naruto, the one who would be presiding their wedding. Since the only one who was powerful enough to join them in holy matrimony was the Hokage, his best friend stood there in his Kage robes and hat, strangely looking serious and projecting an aura of power Gaara was not used to seeing around him. Kankurou was at Gaara's left, also in a formal kimono. He was tossing the velvet box from one hand to another.

Gaara turned to him hastily. "Why do you still have that? Don't tell me the rings are still in that box," he hissed.

Kankurou grinned, flipped the box open, revealing it empty. "Relax. The ring bearer has it already." He pointed over to the small entourage waiting at the path leading to the field. Among other children holding flowers and baskets was a pudgy little boy with pink cheeks and tilted eyes. Obviously an Akimichi.

"That's one of Chouji's little rascals. Cute little guy, eh? He's carrying the rings over here, so you have nothing to fear."

Gaara sighed in relief, not knowing why he actually trusted the child more than he did his brother. According to the program Sakura had handed him, the small entourage of flower girls, ring bearers and a few bridesmaids would parade towards the altar followed, lastly, by the bride. Gaara unconsciously tugged at the collar of his kimono. He was getting anxious. He had not seen Ino all day. He wondered how she would look like in a wedding kimono.

Gaara looked around him nervously. He was not used to these kinds of celebrations. Weddings in Suna were usually solemn, with only the family members and a few relatives present in the joining and exchanging of vows. It seemed like Konoha celebrated differently, because the edge of the fields were lined with people Gaara didn't even know, civilian and shinobi alike, holding baskets full of something he couldn't see from where he was. The people from Suna were all seated around the left side of the gazebo. He could make out Masami and Iwate sitting side by side on one of the tables, looking over their shoulders, as if hoping to get even just a glance of the bride.

Gaara shifted in his place.

"Gaara," Naruto hissed from his place on the altar.

Gaara turned around to face him. "What?"

"Do you wanna pee?"

"_What?_ No."

"Coz you look like you wanna pee. Stop fidgeting."

Kankurou smothered a laugh.

Gaara sighed and was about to apologize to Naruto when the band located at the back end of the gazebo suddenly started playing an unfamiliar song with their flutes and lyres.

"Ooh! It's starting!" Kankurou said, suddenly standing up straighter towards the entourage that had started walking grandly down the path that was lined with people who enthusiastically threw handful of flower petals at the group.

Gaara craned his neck anxiously.

And that was when he saw her.

She was clad in a kimono so white Gaara had to squint to see her in that sunlight. Her long hair was concealed under a wedding headpiece sitting elegantly on her bowed head. It was strange. He was so used to having Ino in halter tops and short skirts and he had always thought her body very beautiful. But he could not understand how wearing a bulky kimono composed of so many layers make her look so… _sexy._

Gaara swallowed.

"You might want to wipe that drool off your chin," Kankurou whispered.

Gaara's hand was instantly on his face. There was no drool on his chin at all.

"Just kidding," Kankurou said.

Gaara ignored him and his eyes went back to Ino who was now being showered with flower petals as her little flower girls, the ring bearer, Tenten, Hinata and Sakura led her towards the gazebo. She was walking beside Inoichi, and the man was looking down at his daughter proudly, looking almost close to tears. Ino broke off from their little parade to bend down and hug someone from the crowd. Gaara saw it was her mother. He had talked to the woman a few times in the past week, but she had been busy with the preparations of the food and flowers that he had barely spent time with the woman.

_There would be more time to get to know her. In the future. During Christmas and New Year. _

Inoichi kissed his wife's cheek twice before pulling Ino back into their procession towards the altar.

"Is that Sakura in that dress?" Kankurou suddenly commented.

Gaara allowed himself to glance at what Kankurou had pointed out, although he didn't linger long. Sakura was in a lavender dress and holding a bouquet. "Yes." His eyes were back on Ino.

"She has neat ankles," Kankurou murmured.

"Stop acting like a pervert. She belongs to someone else. Don't ruin my day," Gaara muttered back.

Kankurou wisely did not respond.

Ino had finally made it to the gazebo where she slowly glided down the wooden aisle, her head still bowed demurely, her eyes hidden under her headpiece. From this angle, the only thing Gaara could make out of her face were her red-painted lips. She was smiling.

Gaara did not know how long he stared at her, but one second she was on the far side of the gazebo, next Inoichi was shaking his hand and Ino was in front of him shyly looking up at him.

Gaara opened his mouth only to close it with a snap.

"You're beautiful," Kankurou said sincerely. "I'm just saying it, coz Gaara's stunned speechless."

Ino bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. "Thanks, Kankurou."

"You're beautiful," Gaara finally managed to blurt out.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Ino said, giving Gaara's hand a light squeeze. They turned to Naruto, who was now all business.

"You guys look great. Are you ready for this?" Naruto asked quietly, beaming down at both of them as if his own daughter were getting married.

"Yes," Gaara said, feeling light-headed.

Ino giggled at him. "This will go by fast you won't even remember half of it."

Gaara thought Ino was just speaking figuratively, that's why he was surprised when it _did_ actually go by fast, and aside from the part where Naruto was saying, "Citizens of Konoha, and our brothers and sisters from Suna, we are gathered here today to bear witness to the union of … … ", it seemed like he had zoned out on everything around him, and they were slipping their rings on each other's fingers, and there was just him in his montsuki saying, "I do," then there was Ino in her beautiful kimono, saying "I do," and they were sharing a tight-lipped kiss in front of everyone and then the crowd was clapping and there was music and Ino dragging him down the aisle by the hand.

And everything in the wedding was a blur and everything opened up to the reception where they were finally able to shed their kimonos and change, Gaara in a white dress shirt and plain black pants and Ino in a simple white dress and they were sitting on a round table eating too sweet cake, and drinking red wine.

In the hodge-podge of everything happening before him, Ino had held his hand gently, and perhaps that was the only anchor he had in the reality that was happening before him. Gaara couldn't really remember it, but Tenten and Sakura had shoved him and Ino in the middle of the dance floor where he had murdered Ino's feet by stepping on her too many times, where she whined about her pedicure but laughed as she tried and failed to teach him how to dance.

As the evening wore off, so did Gaara's stamina with nodding at the people politely (and attempting to smile at them), and watching dozens and dozens of women come approach Ino, kiss her on the cheek and say something like, "May you have many healthy children!", or "May your marriage be filled with love, trust and never-ending happiness!" and so on.

And it wasn't until the reception party started to die down, and everyone was drunk enough to finally pick themselves up and wish Gaara and Ino their final congratulations, did Gaara notice that Ino's megaton smile was down a notch, and although she responded to all their well-wishers with as much sincerity as she had shown earlier in the day, he could still tell she was exhausted as she tried to cover a yawn with her wine glass as she waved to the continuous flow of guests who were leaving the field for home.

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked as Ino leaned against him. His arm was instantly around her waist.

"Fine, fine," Ino assured him, still waving at the people who were bowing at them. "Just a bit tired. Well, maybe not a bit. _Maybe _a lot."

Gaara nodded in understanding as he took the wine glass from her hand and leaned down to peer at her face. She did look tired, and he understood why. Gaara had been up and about with whatever they had to finish for the last week since he came here, but Ino had been working on the wedding preparations from the food to the flowers for the past three months.

Ino giggled and she pushed his face away gently. "Stop looking at me like that. You're making me insecure."

Gaara straightened up immediately when he realized that Ino was, indeed, blushing. It may have something to do with the wine she had been drinking all night. But she looked good when she was blushing. All the blood on her cheeks.

_All the blood. _

He wanted her.

Gaara sucked in a sharp breath and forced himself to look straight ahead where the final few guests dallied out of the gazebo and out of the clearing.

Ino maintained her smile and her waving hand a few more minutes after all the people had left before finally throwing up her hands in the air and screaming at the top of her lungs, _"Booooh-yaaaaahhhh!"_

Gaara watched her do a little victory dance with whatever remaining energy she had before flinging herself to Gaara and saying, "Carry me _ho~ome!"_

She was not drunk. A bit tipsy, maybe, but she was definitely not drunk. Gaara looked over his shoulder to see a few of the hired help starting the clean up. Sakura had been hauled away by none other than Sai in his ink falcon sometime during the middle of the party for throwing up in the bushes for drinking too much. Unsurprisingly, Kankurou had disappeared from the scene a few minutes later probably to sulk in his room.

The others who were still there were Hinata and Tenten, obviously there to say their goodnights and congratulations to their friend before leaving the place.

"You guys must be exhausted," Tenten commented when she and Hinata finally came over. She had a few crepe paper in her hands and for some weird reason, a bottle of wine in another.

"You should take Ino home and rest. You're leaving for Suna first thing tomorrow morning, right?" Hinata asked as she kicked away a few balloons scattered by her feet.

Ino disengaged herself from Gaara and tackled Tenten and Hinata around the necks. "I love you guys!" she said cheerfully.

"She's had a bit to drink," Gaara explained. "I'm surprised you're not, Tenten."

The weapons mistress patted Ino's back fondly. "I have a mission in three hours. It was supposed to be yesterday, but I was dragging it off for Ino's wedding. Naruto was kind enough to hold the client off until tonight."

Gaara was surprised. "You must be tired. Why not hold it off until tomorrow?"

Tenten shook her head. "It was a surprise they let me off until tonight, actually. If it weren't for Naruto I wouldn't have made it to help Ino with the wedding. I can't make them wait any longer. It sucks I won't be able to see you off tomorrow, though."

Hinata smiled down at Ino's head, stroking her hair gently. "Why don't you guys stay a bit longer? Rest up before going back to Suna?"

Ino pulled back, shaking her head. "Gaara has a lot of things to do. He's already been away from his village for a week just for this."

"We're really grateful, though," Tenten said as she looked over to Gaara. "For letting us throw the wedding here instead of in Suna."

Gaara blinked. "It was the better option. She has a big family and more friends than I have in Suna. If we had held it there, the guest list and rooming list would have been a disaster."

Tenten and Hinata laughed at what he said.

"Today wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you guys," Ino said, leaning back on her heels. She wobbled and Gaara caught her from behind, leaning her on his chest for balance.

Tenten raised her eyebrows. "I think you should go home. You can barely stand." She leaned over and gave Ino a quick kiss on the cheek. "Love you, Ino. Be happy." She touched Gaara's shoulder lightly. "Take care of her from now on. You'd better be nice to her."

Gaara looked down at the place on his shoulder that Tenten had touched. He nodded. "I will." He wondered how many more threats he was going to get from Ino's friends before they left for Suna.

Hinata reached out and took Ino's hands in hers. "We're just a letter away. Write to us when you finally get settled in, all right?"

Ino laughed, playfully swinging their hands between them. "You sound as if I'm already leaving. We're still meeting tomorrow, remember?"

Hinata's eyes started to water. "I know. Just in case I get over-emotional and not say what I have to say tomorrow, I thought it would be safer to tell you now."

Ino touched Hinata's cheek. "Are you going to cry on me? Don't cry! Let's all cry together tomorrow! If we cry tonight, then we'd wake up with puffy and swollen eyes in the morning!"

Hinata had to laugh at that and she dashed her eyes with the back of her hand. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Ino stifled a yawn that Gaara couldn't miss. He placed both hands on her upper arms and rubbed them up and down. "We should go. You're tired."

Tenten started shooing them away, too. "Go, go. Don't mind us."

Ino giggled again. "You be careful on your mission tonight, Ten. Write me a letter when you get back."

"I will."

"And Hinata? When you guys finally decide to tie the knot, you'd better invite me," Ino said.

Hinata blushed furiously. "O-oh! O-o-of course we will! We wouldn't have it any other way!"

Kankurou had warned him that girls' goodbyes were always the longest of all, and so he waited patiently for the three to finish up before he led Ino back to his quarters in the administrations building. Somewhere between the field and his quarters, Ino had started asking for a piggy back. Somehow a bit embarrassed and afraid that people might stare, he complied. He crossed the village with Ino's arms draped loosely around his neck, her face pressed closely to his cheek.

"Gaara," she whispered. "It just dawned on me right now."

Gaara kept his pace even. "What is it?"

"We're married."

Gaara stopped in his tracks, his heart suddenly jumping against his ribcage. She was right. They were married now. After all the hassles of tonight, of the last week, he wasn't even able to bask in the fact that they were now husband and wife… "Yes, we are." He continued walking.

"What do you think of wooden furniture?" Ino suddenly asked. She nuzzled her nose against his ear.

Gaara felt his skin tingle where her nose was touching him. "Wood? I've never really considered it. Why?"

"I'd like to buy some stuff for our living room in Suna…"

Gaara's heart took another unexpected leap. She was talking about his house. And she had said, 'our'. It was strange how that one word could make him so excited. They were married now. He was hers. She was his. It was overwhelming in a way. He never thought anyone was capable of being this happy and nervous and giddy all at the same time and still live. Damn it. He should have asked Neji, or Chouji or Shino about the _'dreaded' _wedding night. Kankurou had been unhelpful, and if anything looked uncomfortable talking about it with him.

He knew of the traditions of Suna that the newlyweds were to… _consummate_ their marriage on the night after the ceremony. And he had heard that the council even went as far as check if the requirement was met the next morning. Was Konoha any different?

"Gaara? Don't you like wood?" Ino asked, and Gaara realized he had not answered her question about the furniture.

Gaara turned his head to the side, and her lips ended up pressing against his cheek. He felt his face redden. "Wood is fine. But I want a softer couch."

"Hmm… That's true. We wouldn't want an uncomfortable couch and chairs." Ino murmured absently, pecking his cheek several times before pressing her mouth to his neck.

Gaara pulled his head away. "Ino, wait until we're in the room," he said.

Ino giggled. "Sorry. I was getting carried away." And she buried her face on his shoulder.

They were silent when Gaara finally managed to kick the door of his room open with Ino still giggling on his back.

"Ah, so this is where you've been staying all week? No wonder you didn't want to stay in my house. Naruto must have dished out his best room for you," Ino said as Gaara set her down on her feet. As soon as she was on the floor, she kicked off her shoes and started to attack her dress.

"Finally! I get to take this corset off! Do you know how hard it was to put this on? I bet it's as hard as taking if off." She reached behind her for her zipper, twirling around in a small circle as she did.

Gaara tentatively stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Let me help you out of that."

Ino jumped slightly when Gaara brushed back her long hair over one shoulder to pick at the zipper. He could not help notice how his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of the nape of her neck peeking from under her hair. He tried to ignore it, and worked the zipper down, freeing Ino from the dress. She shrugged it off and let it drop around her feet. She was now standing in her long white camisole and the corset she so detested. Gaara thought it gentlemanly to get her out of her predicament, although his fingers felt too thick to do the job of picking at the thin lace she was wearing. Unlike the wedding, undressing Ino felt like it took a decade to do. And he did it using all his ninja skills not to look at her unless necessary.

He did not know how it happened, but after forever of extracting her from the rest of her outfit, she was in her old night gown, and was dancing around the room happily.

"I'm free!" she said.

Gaara looked down at his hands. He had undressed her. And she didn't mind at all that he had touched her in so many places that he was sure would have made her uncomfortable. But here she was, dancing like she didn't have a care in the world. After a few more turns, she flopped down on the bed, folding her legs under her.

"Gaara, why are you still in your dress shirt? Change into something comfortable," she coaxed, grinning at him from over the bed. Her face was still flushed, but she was glowing. She looked happy. She _was _happy. She leaned forward on the bed, causing her night gown to slip over one shoulder. "Come here! Let me help you get out of that shirt."

That was when Gaara started to panic. The telltale presence of what used to be living inside him stirred again at the sight of Ino calling him over, dressed in nothing more than a flimsy night gown. He walked towards her stiffly, stopping in front of her on the bed.

Ino looked up at him as she pushed herself up on her knees. She gently laid her palms flat on his chest, dragging them down to his waist. She started unbuttoning his shirt from the bottom.

Gaara clenched and unclenched his hands as he held her eyes with his. She still had her make up on, and he could make out a bit of her smudged eyeliner, making her eyes bigger in the light of his room. And when his hands seemed to move on their own and reached for Ino's slender neck, that was when it scared him. He did not understand what was making his fingers move, but they ghosted over her bare shoulder.

Ino's own hands worked up the buttons of his shirt all the way and pushing it open to plant her palms on his bare chest. "You're tense. Are you all right?"

Gaara felt a shiver run through his spine at the feel of Ino's fingers trailing from his chest to his shoulders. "I'm just a bit tired," he said, feeling anything but. If anything, he hadn't been this awake all day. He hated this feeling. He hated the memory that the feeling brought with it.

"It's been a long day," Ino agreed. "I don't even think we were able to talk about anything throughout the ceremony."

Gaara nodded, and he felt his body once again move on its own and he hitched his knees up on the bed on either side of Ino's. She smiled at him coyly, and all of a sudden grabbed his collar and pulled him down onto the bed. Reflexes kicking in, he planted his hands on either side of her head to keep his body from crashing on top of her. The monster that wasn't there roared violently at the sight of Ino under him, mouth half-open with a bit of teeth and tongue peeking from those lips painted with fading lipstick. He leaned down and kissed her, and the feeling in his lower abdomen tried to take over again. Her hands had pushed his shirt off his shoulders, then her arms were around his neck, pulling him close.

He wanted her, in every sense of the word. That was why it frightened him to death. It was strange; it seemed like she knew what he was feeling. It seemed like she was waiting for him to make his move.

Gaara pulled away from her. "I'm sorry. I can't do this." He rolled off her and fell flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.

Ino sat up on the bed slowly. She did not look down at him, but from that angle, Gaara could see she was smiling. "We don't have to, you know. I mean, you're tired. I'm tired." That was when she turned to face him, and that understanding look on her face nearly made Gaara want to ram her against the bed and just ravish her to death.

To death.

_No!_

Memories of the monster kept on coming back, but he knew this was not a good enough excuse to keep things from her. "Ino, I have something to tell you."

Ino nodded at him encouragingly, not the least bit surprised that he had asked for them to talk. "I'm listening."

"I don't even know where to start."

Ino shrugged lightly, and she reached out and tentatively took his hand into hers. "Whenever you're ready."

And he did not know how long he made her wait until he finally found the courage and the right words to put how the bijuu he'd had in him fourteen years ago had influenced his childhood in a way that was just too twisted even for him to put into words. And how it had still continued to affect him long after the monster was removed from him, and how these natural human bodily reactions still reminded him of that time when Gaara's satisfaction was achieved only through the _beast's_ satisfaction.

"Arousal came before or after killing people and feeding my sand their blood," Gaara said shakily. "Ever since Shukaku left me, I had to learn how to… _satisfy _myself without the beast. Kankurou must have been the one who suffered the most embarrassment from having to teach me everything. Sexual arousal, sexual desire had come together with the thirst for blood. They were never good memories for me."

Ino listened silently to what he had to say. Nodding at times, and sometimes touching his shoulder or rubbing his back when he stopped to think for better words to say. It was only when Gaara finally lower his head did she scoot closer to him and hugged him, pressing his head closer to her chest and resting her chin on his hair.

"I love you, Gaara. You know that. You don't have to force yourself to do something you're not comfortable with yet. Making love or not doesn't define what we feel for each other."

"Suna traditions demand us to consummate this marriage tonight," Gaara said against her chest, and his own arms snaked around her waist, clinging onto her more than what was necessary.

"Shh!" Ino cooed, then she pulled back and leaned down to stare at him in the eye with a determined look on her face. "It doesn't have to be tonight. We have our whole lives ahead of us. There's no need to rush." She wriggled her eyebrows naughtily. "Tell me when you're ready. I'll make sure to leave an impression so good not even a tailed-beast can win over."

And he did not know what it was in how she said it, but he felt something move in him again, something not different from the desire he'd always felt for her when they were lying in the dark, under the covers and kissing. It was a… _safe _feeling. And he felt that same feeling he felt seven days ago when they were in Ino's room. The loneliness. The feeling of being… _incomplete_. And the desire to be anything but.

Ino cupped a hand on his cheek lovingly. "Let's go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She turned around to crawl up the bed.

Gaara seized her around the waist, pulling her against him so suddenly that Ino gasped out loud as her back hit Gaara's chest. Gaara's mouth was instantly on that patch of exposed flesh on her shoulders, kissing up her neck and to her ear. "I'd… I'd like to try. I… uh… " He pulled the neck of her night gown down further, exposing her upper arm and a lot of her back. He trailed open-mouthed kisses down her back, then up again. "I… might not be good at it… and there would be times I might change my mind… stop me, all right?"

Ino shuddered against him. And she turned around to face him, and much to his horror, her bare legs were straddling his hips in a way so… _stimulating_ that he felt like pushing her back and running away. He stilled himself as the sensation kept creeping back into his body. And it showed, because Ino started to squirm on his lap, as if to give him a bit of room enough to make him comfortable.

She kissed his forehead, right on the mark on top of his left eye. "Are you sure? We can do this when you're more ready."

Gaara shook his head, fighting down the feelings of fear by concentrating on Ino's mouth on his forehead that trailed down his closed eyes, on his cheeks, on his lips. "It's all right. _I'm_ all right. Are you?"

Ino pulled back slowly, gazed at him with slightly closed eyes. She smiled, "Making love, Gaara…" she started. "Is when you want to."

Gaara swallowed hard, and in her smeared eyeliner and clumps of mascara sticking to her eyelashes, and the messy hair, she looked absolutely beautiful and understanding and everything he's ever wanted in a woman, that he owed her this much at least. He nodded, shifted and gently laid her on her back on the bed. "I want to," he said, and taking her lips in his, he knew that he did want her.

How could he refuse, when she had offered him that proclaimed promise that she was going to make a good impression? _That would be nice, _he thought. He found himself hoping against hope for it.

And although he wasn't really feeling confident right now, he knew one thing: he was getting really, _really _excited.

"You asked for it," Ino said gravely, suddenly pushing him onto his back and running a hand through his hair gently. She lowered her mouth to his ear and whispered, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Gaara closed his eyes. Now he was getting really, _really _scared.

Of course, after that night, everything changed.

And everything was good.

* * *

**A/N: THE END!**

**I kind of liked writing this little universe they have here. And at the back of my mind, a tiny little idea started brewing in my head about the Gaara concept I've made for this story. Watch out for it. It might probably be my very first Lemon fic. But I'm not keeping any promises. Of course it will be GaaIno, though. XD**

**Well, thank you for reading and reviewing! Writing about this couple was truly very enjoyable for me! I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! **

**Till the next inspiration hits me!**

**~Yuugiri~**


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